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Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


NEW  YORK 

by 


Sunlight  and  Gaslight. 


A  WORK  DESCRIPTIVE  OF  THE 


GREAT  AMERICAN  METROPOLIS. 


ITS  HIGH  AND  LOW  LIFE ;  ITS  SPLENDORS  AND  MISERIES  ;  ITS  VIRTUES 
AND  VICES;    ITS  GORGEOUS  PALACES  AND  DARK   HOMES  OF 
POVERTY  AND  CRIME;     ITS  PUBLIC   MEN,  POLITI- 
CIANS, ADVENTURERS  J    ITS  CHARITIES, 
FRAUDS,  MYSTERIES,  ETC.,  ETC. 


BY  JAMES  D.  McCABE, 

AUTHOR  OF    "PARIS  BY  SUNLIGHT  AND    GASLIGHT,"    "  PICTORIAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD 
"CENTENNIAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,"   "  CROSS  AND  CROWN,"  ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED  WITH  FINE  FULL-PAGE  AND  OTHER  ENGRAVINGS. 


JONES  BROTHERS  AND  COMPANY: 

CINCINNATI,     PHILADELPHIA,     CHICAGO,     KANSAS  CITY. 


J.  M.  Olcott,  Indianapolis;  J.  C.  Chilton  &  Co.,  Detroit; 
T.  N.  James  &  Co.,  St.  Louis;  W.  H.  McClain,  Des  Moines. 


.  m  h 

I  ma  a) 


Copyright  by 
DOUGLASS  BROTHERS. 
1SS1. 


t 

COLLINS,  PKLNTEK. 


PREFACE. 


What  Paris  is  to  the  Frenchman,  or  London  to  the  Briton,  New 
York  is  to  the  American.  It  is  not  only  the  Great  Metropolis  of 
the  New  World,  but  it  is  the  chief  attraction  upon  this  continent, 
the  great  centre  to  which  our  people  resort  for  business  and  plea- 
sure, and  as  such,  is  a  source  of  never-failing  interest. 

This  being  the  case,  it  is  natural  that  every  American  should  de- 
sire to  visit  New  York,  to  see  the  city  for  himself,  behold  its  beau- 
ties, its  wonderful  sights,  and  participate  in  the  pleasures  which  are 
to  be  enjoyed  only  in  the  Metropolis.  Thousands  avail  themselves 
of  this  privilege  every  year ;  but  the  great  mass  of  our  people  know 
our  chief  city  only  by  the  descriptions  of  their  friends,  and  the  brief 
accounts  of  its  sights  and  scenes  which  occur  from  time  to  time  in 
the  newspapers  of  the  day.  Even  those  who  visit  the  city  bring 
away  but  a  superficial  knowledge  of  it,  as  to  know  New  York  re- 
quires years  of  constant  study  and  investigation.  Strangers  see  only 
the  surface ;  they  cannot  penetrate  into  its  inner  life,  and  examine 
the  countless  influences  at  work  every  day  in  shaping  the  destiny 
of  the  beautiful  city.  Few,  even  of  the  residents  of  the  Metropolis, 
have  either  the  time  or  the  means  for  such  investigations.  Few 
have  a  correct  idea  of  the  terrible  romance  and  hard  reality  of  the 
daily  lives  of  a  vast  portion  of  the  dwellers  in  New  York,  or  of  the 
splendor  and  luxury  of  the  wealthier  classes. 

One  of  the  chief  characteristics  of  New  York  is  the  rapidity  with 
which  changes  occur  in  it.  Those  who  were  familiar  with  the  city 
in  the  past  will  find  it  new  to  them  now.  The  march  of  progress 
and  improvement  presses  on  with  giant  strides,  and  the  city  of 
to-day  is  widely  separated  from  the  city  of  a  few  years  ago.  Only 
one  who  has  devoted  himself  to  watching  its  onward  career,  either 
in  prosperity  and  magnificence  or  in  misery  and  crime,  can  form 
any  idea  of  the  magnitude  and  character  of  the  wonderful  changes 
of  the  past  ten  years. 

The  volume  now  offered  to  the  reader  aims  to  be  a  faithful  and 
graphic  picture  of  the  New  York  of  to-day,  and  to  give,  in  life-like 

iii 


IV 


PREFACE. 


colors,  views  of  its  magnificent  streets  and  buildings,  its  busy, 
bustling  crowds,  its  rushing  elevated  trains,  its  countless  sights,  its 
romance,  its  mystery,  its  nobler  and  better  efforts  in  the  cause  of 
humanity,  its  dark  crimes,  and  terrible  tragedies.  In  short,  the 
work  endeavors  to  hold  up  to  the  reader  a  faithful  mirror,  in  which 
shall  pass  all  the  varied  scenes  that  transpire  in  New  York,  by  sun- 
light and  by  gaslight.  To  those  who  have  seen  the  great  city,  the 
work  is  offered  as  a  means  of  recalling  some  of  the  pleasantest  ex- 
periences of  their  lives ;  while  to  the  still  larger  class  who  have 
never  enjoyed  this  pleasure,  it  is  hoped  that  it  will  be  the  medium 
of  their  acquiring  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  New  York  in  the 
quiet  of  their  own  homes,  and  without  the  expense  or  fatigue  of  a 
journey. 

This  volume  is  not  a  work  of  fiction,  but  a  narrative  of  well  au- 
thenticated, though  often  startling  facts.  The  darker  sides  of  New 
York  life  are  shown  in  their  true  colors,  and  without  any  effort  to 
tone  them  down.  Foul  blots  are  to  be  found  upon  the  life  of  the 
great  city.  Sin,  vice,  crime  and  shame  are  terrible  realities  there, 
and  they  have  been  presented  here  as  they  actually  exist. 

Throughout  the  work,  the  aim  of  the  author  has  been  to  warn 
those  who  wish  to  see  for  themselves  the  darker  side  of  city  life,  of 
the  dangers  attending  such  undertakings.  A  man  who  seeks  the 
haunts  of  vice  and  crime  in  New  York  takes  his  life  in  his  hand,  ex- 
poses himself  to  dangers  of  the  most  real  kind,  and  deserves  all  the 
harm  that  may  come  to  him  in  his  quest  of  knowledge.  Enough  is 
told  in  this  volume  to  satisfy  legitimate  curiosity,  and  to  convince 
the  reader  that  the  only  path  of  safety  in  New  York  is  to  avoid  all 
places  of  doubtful  repute.  The  city  is  bright  and  beautiful  enough 
to  occupy  all  one's  time  with  its  wonderful  sights  and  innocent  plea- 
sures. To  venture  under  the  shadow,  is  to  court  danger  in  all  its  forms. 
No  matter  how  "  wise  in  his  own  conceit "  a  stranger  may  be,  he  is 
but  a  child  in  the  hands  of  the  disreputable  classes  of  the  great  city. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  work  the  author  has  drawn  freely  upon 
his  own  experience,  the  result  of  a  long  and  intimate  acquaintance 
with  all  the  various  phases  of  New  York  life.  He  ventures  to  hope 
that  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  subject  will  recognize  the  truth- 
fulness of  the  statements  made,  and  that  the  book  may  prove  a 
source  of  pleasure  and  profit  to  all  who  may  honor  it  with  a  perusal. 

November  ist,  1881.  J.  D.  m'c. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


FAGS 

BARTHOLDI'S   STATUE,   "LIBERTY   ENLIGHTENING    THE  WORLD," 
(Frontispiece) 

EVENING  POST  BUILDING  (Full  Page)   42 

ODD  FELLOWS'  HALL   44 

NEW  YORK  LIFE  INSURANCE  COMPANY'S  BUILDING   45 

DOMESTIC  SEWING  MACHINE  BUILDING  (Full  Page)   47 

TRIBUNE  BUILDING   48 

STAATS  ZEITUNG  BUILDING     49 

GRAND  CENTRAL  DEPOT  (Full  Page)  to  face  6i 

PAVONIA  DOCKS,  JERSEY  CITY  (Full  Page)   90 

BIRD'S  EYE  VIEW  OF  NEW  YORK  (Full  Page)   93 

BROADWAY,  LOOKING  NORTH  FROM  EXCHANGE  PLACE   136 

MUTUAL  LIFE  INSURANCE  BUILDING   138 

ST.  PAUL'S  CHURCH  (Full  Page)   139 

BROADWAY,  AT  THE  POST  OFFICE  (Full  Page)   141 

LORD  AND  TAYLOR'S  DRY  GOODS  STORE  (Full  Page)  150 

SWELL  TURNOUT  ON  FIFTH  AVENUE  (Full  Page)   172 

METROPOLITAN  ELEVATED  RAILWAY  STATION,  SIXTH  AVENUE  AND 

TWENTY-THIRD  STREET  (Full  Page)  to  face  179 

ELEVATED  RAILROAD,  CHATHAM  SQUARE  (Full  Page)  to  face  183 

COENTIES  SUP  (Full  Page)   to  face  191 

THE  THIRD  AVENUE  RAILROAD  DEPOT  241 

MASONIC  TEMPLE,  SIXTH  AVENUE  AND  TWENTY-THIRD  STREET  252 

METROPOLITAN   ELEVATED  RAILROAD,  SIXTH  AVENUE  AND  FOUR- 
TEENTH STREET  (Full  Page)   to  face  255 

COACHING  DAY  IN  CENTRAL  PARK  (Full  Page)   263 

COOPER  INSTITUTE  AND  ELEVATED  RAILROAD,  THIRD  AVENUE  (Full 

Page)  «  to  face  267 

"PLEASE  GIVE  ME  A  PENNY"  271 

SCENE  ON  WEST  STREET  (Full  Page)   279 

CITY  HALL  AND  PARK  (Full  Page)  to  face  297 

UNITED  STATES  SUB-TREASURY   299 

CUSTOM  HOUSE   301 

CUSTOM  HOUSE  INSPECTION  (Full  Page)  303 

STEINWAY  HALL   307 

COOPER  UNION   309 

NATIONAL  ACADEMY  OF  DESIGN     312 

GRAND  CENTRAL  DEPOT,  FRONT  VIEW  (Full  Page)   317 

A  VETERAN  CALLER  AT  WORK  (Full  Page)  325 

A  CALLER  WHO  HAS  HAD  TOO  MUCH  PUNCH   327 

NEW  YORK  STOCK  EXCHANGE   335 

BELL  TELEPHONE  EXCHANGE  (Full  Page)    to  face  351 

CUNARD  STEAMSHIP  "GALLIA"   361 

SOUND  STEAMER  BRISTOL  (Full  Page)  to  face  361 

GRAND  SALOON,  SOUND  STEAMER  (Full  Page)   363 

COURTLANDT  AND  LIBERTY  STREET  FERRIES  (Full  Page)  to  face  367 

AN  ATTEMPT  AT  SUICIDE  FOILED  (Full  Page)  to  face  397 


\ 


VI  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAVONIA  AND  ERIE  RAILWAY  FERRY  (Full  Page)  405 

THE  TOMBS   410 

SCENE  IN  A  POLICE  COURT  (Full  Page)  to/ace  417 

LUDLOW  STREET  JAII   419 

UNION  SQUARE,  AT  FOURTEENTH  STREET  (Full  Page)  to/ace  427 

MADISON  SQUARE  (Full  Page)  429 

VIEW  OF  THE  LAKE  FROM  THE  TERRACE  451 

THE  LOWER  TERRACE  IN  CENTRAL  PARK   453 

BRIDGE  ACROSS  THE  LAKE  (Full  Page)  455 

THE  OBELISK  (Full  Page)  463 

TRINITY  CHURCH  (Full  Page)   471 

A  FANCY  BALL  AT  THE  BUCKINGHAM  PALACE  (Full  Page)  to  face  481 

A  WATER  STREET  DANCE  HOUSE  (Full  Page)   491 

JAY  GOULD  497 

THE  SIXTY-NINTH  REGIMENT  ARMORY  499 

THE  SEVENTH  REGIMENT  ARMORY    502 

WM.  H.  VANDERBILT  503 

RIVER  PIRATES  ESCAPING  FROM  THE  POLICE  (Full  Page)   519 

CREEDMOOR  RIFLE  RANGE  528 

TOO  MUCH  RUM  (Full  Page)   531 

HENRY  BERGH  (Full  Page)   535 

BROOKLYN  BRIDGE  AND  EAST  RIVER  (Full  Page)  538 

SCENE  IN  A  BROADWAY  GAMBLING  HALL   544 

LOW  CLASS  GAMBLING  DEN   547 

THE  TUNNEL  UNDER  THE  HUDSON  RIVER   554 

A.  T.  STEWART  &  CO.'S  RETAIL  STORE  (Full  Page)   557 

TENEMENT  HOUSE  IN  BAXTER  STREET  (Full  Page)  to  face  561 

JERRY  M'AULEY   564 

MRS.  M'AULEY   567 

BOOTH'S  THEATRE  (Full  Page)   575 

GRAND  OPERA  HOUSE  576 

THE  HOMES  OF  THE  POOR  (Full  Page)   582 

SCENE  IN  THE  CHINESE  QUARTERS  (Full  Page)  to  face  585 

SHANTIES  IN  EIGHTH  AVENUE  (Full  Page;   587 

HOSPITAL  FOR  CATS  (Full  Page)  to  face  591 

THE  EVENING  MAIL  BUILDING  600 

CHEMICAL  FIRE  ENGINE  606 

NEW  YORK  FIREMEN  RESCUING  A  CHILD  FROM  THE  FLAMES   611 

HARRY  U. ILLS  (Full  Page)   613 

HON.  JOHN  KELLY     617 

REV.  HENRY  C.  POTTER,  D.D  622 

REV.  JOHN  C.  HALL,  D.D  625 

REV.  THOS.  ARMITAGE,  D.D   626 

REV.  W.  M.  TAYLOR.  D.D  627 

REV.  ROBT.  COLLYER.  D.D   628 

ST.  PATRICK'S  CATHEDRAL  (Full  Page)  632 

THE  OLD  BOWERY  THEATRE  640 

ST.  NICHOLAS  HOTEL   646 

METROPOLITAN  HOTEL   <M7 

GRAND  CENTRAL  HOTEL  649 

THE  TRAMP'S  BATH  653 

BEER  TRAMPS   654 

EMIGRANTS  LANDING  AT  CASTLE  GARDEN  (Full  Page)  to  face  661 

SCENE  IN  FULTON  MARKET  DURING  THE  WATERMELON  SEASON  (Full 

Page)  to  face  665 

HIGH  BRIDGE  669 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  GREAT  METROPOLIS. 


GENERAL  DESCRIPTION  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY— LOCATION— NATURAL  ADVANTAGES — COMMERCIAL 
ADVANTAGES — THE  STREETS — BUILDINGS — CLIMATE — HEALTHFULNESS — MORTALITY — RAPID 
GROWTH  OF  THE  CITY — LOFTY  BUILDINGS — DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  MOST  NOTED  AND  THE 
HIGHEST  STRUCTURES  IN  THE  CITY — REASONS  FOR  BUILDING  SO  HIGH — LAND  CHEAP  UP 
STAIRS  33 

CHAPTER  II. 
THE  PEOPLE  OF  NEW  YORK. 

POPULATION  OF  NEW  YORK  IN  1870— THE  STATE  CENSUS  OF  1875— WHAT  CHANGES  IT  SHOWED— POPU- 
LATION IN  1880  POPULATION  AFFECTED  BY  THE  IMPROVEMENTS  IN  THE  LOWER  PART  OF  THE 

CITY — THE  MOST  DENSELY  SETTLED  PART  OF  NEW  YORK — THE  FLOATING  POPULATION — 
STRANGERS  IN  NEW  YORK — FOREIGN  DISTRICTS — COSMOPOLITAN  CHARACTER  OF  THE  PEOPLE 
— CHARACTERISTICS  OF  NEW  YORKERS — LACK  OF  PUBLIC  SPIRIT — INDIFFERENCE  TO  POLITI- 
CAL AFFAIRS — THE  RESULT — THE  RACE  FOR  WEALTH — HOW  BUSINESS  IS  DONE  IN  NEW  YORK — 
WEARING  OUT  BODY  AND  SOUL — A  PHILOSOPHICAL  MERCHANT — A  NEW  COMER'S  IMPRESSIONS 
— LIVING  TOO  FAST — NO  CHANCE  FOR  LAGGARDS — HOW  SUCCESS  IS  WON — MERIT  THE  TEST — 

NEW  YORK  FROM  A  MORAL  POINT  OF  VIEW — ITS  CHARITIES  AND  BENEVOLENCE  TOLERATION 

OF  OPINIONS  AND  BELIEFS — MENTAL  CULTURE  OF  THE  PEOPLE — WHAT  IT  COSTS  TO  LIVE  IN 
NEW  YORK — THE  RICH  AND  THE  MIDDLE  CLASSES — NEW  YORK  AS  A  PLACE  OF  RESIDENCE — 
ATTACHMENT  OF  THE  PEOPLE  TO  THE  CITY  51 

CHAPTER  III. 
THE  GROWTH  OF  NEW  YORK. 

RAPID  GROWTH  OF  NEW  YORK  DURING  THE  PAST  THIRTY-FIVE  YEARS — THE  FLUSH  TIMES  AFTER 
THE  WAR — EFFECTS  OF  THE  PANIC  OF  1873 — A  MOMENTARY  CHECK — RETURN  OF  PROS- 
PERITY— PROSPECTS  FOR  THE  FUTURE — INCREASE  IN  BUILDING  OPERATIONS — HOW  REAL 
ESTATE  APPRECIATES  IN  VALUE— THE  SECRET  OF  THE  GREAT  INCREASE  OF  WEALTH  IN  NEW 
YORK — FUTURE  CENTRES  OF  POPULATION— WHAT  NEW  YORK  WILL  BE  FIFTY  YEARS  HENCE — 
A  GRAND  DESTINY  65 


CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  HARBOR  OF  NEW  YORK. 


NATURAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  THE  HARBOR— THE  OUTER  AND  INNER  BAYS— -EXCURSIONS— A  TRIP 
DOWN  THE  HARBOR — SCENES  ALONG  THE  ROUTE — THE  SHIPPING — THROUGH  THE  INNER  BAY 
—GOVERNOR'S  ISLAND — BEDLOE'S  AND  ELLIS*  ISLANDS— BARTHOLDl'S  STATUE— LIBERTY 
ENLIGHTENING  THE  WORLD — THE  KILL  VAN  KULL — STATEN  ISLAND — THE  NARROWS — THE 
FORTIFICATIONS — THE  OUTER  BAY— QUARANTINE— CONEY  ISLAND — SCENES  IN  THE  LOWER 
BAY— SANDY  HOOK— OUT  TO  SEA— BACK  TO  NEW  YORK  88 

vii 


Vlll 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  V. 
SANDY  HOOK. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  "THE  HOOK  " — A  NOTED  LANDMARK— A  SANDY  W A STE — TH E  COVE— THE  BEACH 
— THE  LIGHT-SHIPS — THE  LIFE  SAVING  STATION — SANDY  HOOK  LIGHTHOUSE — ITS  HISTORY 
— THE  KEEPER'S  HOUSE — WRECKS — IN  THE  LIGHT-TOWER — A  GRAND  VIEW — OCEAN  CEME- 
TERY— THE  FORTIFICATIONS — TESTING  THE  HEAVY  GUNS — THE  NORTH  LIGHT — THE  SYRENS 
— THE  TELEGRAPH  STATION  104 

CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  NEVERSINK  HIGHLANDS. 

SITUATION  OF  THE  HIGHLANDS— THE  SHREWSBURY  RIVER— RED  BANK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  NAME 

OF  THE  HIGHLANDS — AS  SEEN  FROM  THE  SEA — THE  LIGHT  TOWERS —  A  MAGNIFICENT  LIGHT 
— VIEW  FROM  THE  TOWER— THE  PICTURES  IN  THE  LENSES— A  GLIMPSE  OF  FAIRY  LAND.  II3 

CHAPTER  VII. 
MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CITY  GOVERNMENT— THE  MAYOR  AND  BOARD  OF  ALDERMEN— THE  COM- 
MISSIONERS— DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  VARIOUS  MUNICIPAL  DEPARTMENTS— POWERS  OF  OFFI- 
CIALS— THE  COURTS — POLICE  JUSTICES — THE  MEN  BY  WHOM  NEW  YORK  IS  GOVERNED — RESPON- 
SIBILITY OF  THE  BETTER  CLASSES— FROM  THE  GROG  SHOP  TO  CIVIL  POWER — WHO  THE  LEAD- 
ERS ARE — THE  "  BOSS" — THE  RING — HOW  BOSS  TWEED  MAINTAINED  His' POWER — SPASMODIC 
EFFORTS  AT  REFORM — MULHOOLYISM  IN  NEW  YORK — AN  INSIDE  VIEW  OF  MUNICIPAL  POLITICS 

— THE  SLAVE  OF  THE  RING  LOOKING  OUT  FOR  THE  "  BOYS  " — THE  INTERESTS  OF  THE  CITY 

NEGLECTED — THE  POPULAR  WILL  DEFIED  BY  THE  RING.  "8 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
BROADWAY. 

7ARLY  HISTORY  OF   BROADWAY — UNDER  THE  DUTCH  AND  ENGLISH  RULE— PRIMITIVE  NAME  OF 

THE  STREET — IT  COMMENCES  TO  GROW — THE  GREAT  FIRE  OF  1 776— THE  BROADWAY  OF  TO- 
DAY— APPEARANCE  OF  THE  STREET — A  STROLL  ON  BROADWAY — THE  LOWER  STREET — 
TRINITY  CHURCH— THE  INSURANCE  COMPANIES — THE  TELEGRAPH  WIRES — MAGNIFICENT 
BUILDINGS — SCENE  FROM  THE  POST-OFFICE — A  BROADWAY  JAM — LOWER  BROADWAY  BY 
NIGHT— CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  VARIOUS  PORTIONS  OF  THE  STREET— VIEW  FROM  CANAL 
STREET — THE  HOTELS — AMONG  THE  PUBLISHERS — "  STEWART'S  " — GRACE  CHURCH — 
BROADWAY  AT  UNION  SQUARE— THE  NARROWEST  PART — MADISON  SQUARE — A  GRAND  SIGHT- 
UPPER  BROADWAY — A  STREET  OF  MARBLE — THE  GREAT  HOTELS— THE  CENTRAL  PARR- 
REACHED— STREET  CARS  AND  OMNIBUSES— THE  NIGHT  LIFE  OF  BROADWAY— SCENES  ON  THE 
STREET — THE  STREET  WALKERS — THE  ELECTRIC  LIGHT — THE  MIDNIGHT  HOUR — BUSINESS 
ON  BROADWAY.  *34 

CHAPTER  IX. 
THE  BROADWAY  STAGES. 

POPULARITY  OF  THIS  MODE  OF  CONVEYANCE — A  *CHEAP  PLEASURE — DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  VARI- 
OUS LINES — THE  STAGES  AS  REGARDS  COMFORT— THE  OUTSIDE  SEATS—"  KNOCKING  DOWN 
IN  BY-GONE  DAYS"— THE  PATENT  CASH  BOX  SYSTEM— THE  M  SPOTTERS  "—A  NIGHT  RIDE 
WITH  JEHU— THE  "  BOSS "  ON  THE  WATCH— MYSTERIOUS  SIGNALS— SKILL  OF  THE  STAGE 
DRIVERS — A  STAGE  DRIVER  PHOTOGRAPHED — SUFFERINGS  OF  THE  DRIVERS— UPS  AND  DOWNS 
OF  THE  CRAFT— THE  MUTUAL  BENEFIT  ASSOCIATION  I57 


CONTENTS.  IX 

CHAPTER  X. 
THE  FIFTH  AVENUE. 

PIFTH  AVENUE  THE  CENTRE  OF  FASHION  AND  WEALTH— DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  STREET — A 
GRAND  PANORAMA— LOWER  FIFTH  AVENUE— ENCROACHMENTS   OF    BUSINESS— FOURTEENTH 

STREET — THE   "  SWALLOW  TAIL"     DEMOCRACY — AMONG  THE  PIANO  MAKERS  CHICKERING 

HALL  CHURCHES  CLUBS   AND   ART  GALLERIES— TWENTY-THIRD  STREET— DELMONICO'S— 

THE  ASTOR   RESIDENCES— STEWART'S   MARBLE   PALACE  A  REGION  OF  BROWN  STONE  UPPER 

FIFTH    AVENUE — THE    HOTELS — THE    CATHEDRAL  THE    VANDERBILT     MANSIONS — ALONG 

THE  CENTRAL  PARK— THE    LENOX    LIBRARY— THE    FIFTH   AVENUE   MANSIONS— HOMES  OF 

WEALTH  AND  LUXURY— HOW  THEY  ARE  FITTED  UP— FIFTH  AVENUE  ON  NEW  YEAR'S  NIGHT  

LIFE  IN  FIFTH  AVENUE — THE  WHIRL  OF  DISSIPATION— WHAT  IT  COSTS— THE  STRUGGLE  FOR 

SHOW  THE  M  NEWLY  RICH  "—DARK  SIDE   OF  FIFTH  AVENUE  LIFE  THE  SKELETONS  FIFTH 

AVENUE  HUSBANDS  AND  WIVES — THE  CHILDREN  "ALL  IS  NOT  GOLD  THAT  GLITTERS."  165 

CHAPTER  XL 
THE  ELEVATED  RAILROADS. 

INCONVENIENCES  OF  OLD-STYLE   TRAVEL — PLANS   FOR   RAPID  TRANSIT — THE   FIRST  ELEVATED 

RAILROAD — THE  PRESENT  SYSTEM — THE  METROPOLITAN  AND  NEW  YORK  ELEVATED  ROADS  

THE  MANHATTAN  COMPANY— DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  ROADS— HOW  THEY  ARE  BUILT— MODE  OF 
OPERATIONS — STATIONS — EMPLOYEES— RAPID   TRAINS — ADVANTAGES    OF    THE  SYSTEM — ITS 

DRAWBACKS — IMMENSE  TRAFFIC — RESULTS  OF  THE  ELEVATED   SYSTEM  RAPID  GROWTH  OF 

THE  UPPER  PART  OF  THE  CITY — A  RIDE  ON  THE  ELEVATED  RAILROADS — THE  NIGHT  TRAINS 
 FROM  THE  BATTERY  TO  HARLEM  BY  NIGHT  I78 

CHAPTER  XII. 
SOCIETY. 

THE  VARIOUS  CLASSES  OF  SOCIETY — THE  BEST  OF  ALL — THE  "OLD  KNICKERBOCKERS*' — A  HEAVY 

SET  OF  SWELLS — RICHES  AND  CULTURE   COMBINED  THE    NEWLY   RICH — THE  CONTROLLING 

ELEMENT — HOW  SHODDY  GETS  INTO  SOCIETY — THE  POWER  OF  MONEY  FASHIONABLE  SNOB- 
BERY— FROM  THE  TENEMENT  HOUSE  TO  THE  FIFTH  AVENUE  MANSION — MANIA  FOR  COATS 
OF  ARMS — HOW  BOSS  TWEED  WAS  VICTIMIZED — SUDDEN  APPEARANCES  AND  DISAPPEAR- 
ANCES IN  SOCIETY  "  RICHES  HAVE  WINGS  " — A  FAILURE  AND  A  TRIUMPH  WHAT  IT  COSTS  

MONEY  THE  ONE  THING  NEEDFUL — EXTRAVAGANCE  OF  NEW  YORK  SOCIETY  LOVE   OF  DRESS 

 A  FASHIONABLE  LADY'S  WARDROBE — FOLLIES  OF  THE  MEN  PASSION  FOR  THE  LEG  BUSI- 
NESS FASHIONABLE  ENTERTAINMENTS — THE  END  OF  EXTRAVAGANT  CAREERS — THE  SKELE- 
TONS SOMETIMES  COME  OUT  OF  THEIR  CLOSETS —FASHIONABLE   BALLS    AND    PARTIES — HOW 

THEY  ARE  GIVEN  INVITATIONS  BALL  ROOM  SCENES — THE  SUPPERS — A  SWELL  CONVERSATION 

 FASHIONABLE  THIEVES — AN  ARISTOCRATIC  SNEAK  THIEF  HOW  A  BROKER  KEPT  HIS  PLACE 

IN  SOCIETY — A  DETECTIVE'S  EXPERIENCE  IN  FASHIONABLE  LIFE — THE  PRETTY  WIDOW  AND 
THE  LACES— FASHIONABLE  RECEPTIONS— WEDDINGS  IN  HIGH  LIFE  ARRANGED  ON  A  PECU- 
NIARY BASIS — MONEY  THE  ATTRACTION  HOW  HEARTS  ARE  BOUGHT  AND  SOLD  THE  WED- 
DING FESTIVITIES — GUARDING  THE  BRIDAL  PRESENTS  WHAT  IT   ALL   COSTS — FASHIONABLE 

DEATH — ONLY  THE   RICH    CAN    AFFORD    TO    DIE    IN    NEW   YORK  COST  OF  A  FASHIONABLE 

FUNERAL — INTERESTING  DETAILS  I95 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
THE  STREET  RAILWAYS. 

■3HE  PRESENT  STREET-RAILWAY  SYSTEM — IMMENSE  BUSINESS  DONE  BY  THE  SURFACE  ROADS — 
EXPENSES  AND  RECEIPTS — HOW  THE  ELEVATED  ROADS  HAVE  AFFECTED  THE  HORSE  RAIL- 
WAYS— DISCOMFORTS  OF  THE  STREET  CARS — THE  CONDUCTORS  AND  DRIVERS — STORY  OF  A 
CONDUCTOR'S  LOT — HARD  WORK  AND  POOR  PAY — KNOCKING  DOWN — HOW  IT  IS  DONE — BEAT- 
ING THE  BELL-PUNCH  238 


X 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
SIXTH  AVENUE. 

RAPID  ADVANCE  OF  SIXTH  AVF.NUE  IN  PROSPERITY — DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  STREET — THE  LOWER 
PORTION — THE  TENEMENT  HOUSES — FRENCH  FLATS — THE  ELEVATED  RAILROAD  AND  ITS 
STATIONS — A  BUSY  SCENE — SIXTH-AVENUE  STORES — "MACEY's" — THE  JEFFERSON  MARKET 
POLICE  COURT — BOOTH'S  THEATRE — THE  MASONIC  TEMPLE — "  THE  TABERNACLE" — SIXTH 
AVENUE  BY  NIGHT— A  CHANGE  OF  SCENE— THE  STREET-WALKERS— BRAZEN  VICE— THE 
FRENCH  WOMEN — SNARING  A  VICTIM — SHAMEFUL  SCENES  ON  THE  AVENUE — THE  STREET  A 
TERROR  TO  DECENT  PEOPLE — THE  ROUGHS — SIXTH-AVENUE  OYSTER  HOUSES  AND  BEER  SA- 
LOONS—SCENE IN  A  FLASH  SALOON— A  YOUTHFUL  CRIMINAL — THE  DETECTIVE'S  PRIZE — 
SIXTH  AVENUE  AFTER  MIDNIGHT— A  DRUNKEN  SINGER — "  IN  THE  SWEET  BYE-AND-BYB  " — 
NO  EFFORT  MADE  TO  CHECK  THE  EVIL  250 

CHAPTER  XV. 
COACHING  DAY. 

MEMORIES  OF  BYGONE  DAYS — STAGE  COACHING  IN  FORMER  YEARS — REVIVAL  OF  COACHING  IN  NEW 

YORK — COLONEL  KANE'S  ENTERPRISE — THE  "  TALLY  HO  "  A  HANDSOME  SUCCESS — SOCIETY 

ADOPTS  COACHING  AS  THE"  CORRECT  THING  " — THECOACHING  CLUB  ORGANIZED— COACHING 
DAY— THE  ANNUAL  PARADE— A  BRILLIANT  SIGHT  258 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
THE  STREETS  OF  NEW  YORK. 

MADISON  AVENUE — MILES  OF  BROWN  STONE — PARK  AVENUE — LEXINGTON  AVENUE — THIRTY- 
FOURTH    AND  FIFTY-SEVENTH   STREETS — MAGNIFICENT    RESIDENCES  THIRD    AVENUE  THE 

GREAT  HIGHWAY  OF  THE  EAST  SIDE— EIGHTH  AVENUE  THE  SMALL  TRADERS'  PARADISE — THE 
SATURDAY  NIGHT  MARKET — TWENTY-THIRD  AND  FOURTEENTH  STREETS — DISAPPEARANCE  OF 

LANDMARKS  CHANGES  IN  THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  STREETS — A  GLANCE  AT  TWENTY-THIRD 

STREET  TO-DAY — "THE  BEGGARS*  PARADISE  "—STREET  CHARACTERS— A  YOUNG  IMPOSTOR- 
KICKED  FROM  A  HORSE  CAR  INTO  A  HOME — BLEECKER  STREET — LIFE  IN  BOHEMIA — A  STREET 

WHERE  NO  QUESTIONS   ARE   ASKED — GRAND  STREET — CHATHAM  STREET  THE  CHILDREN  OF 

ISRAEL  AND  THEIR  WAYS — FULTON  STREET — NASSAU  STREET — A  CROWDED  NEIGHBORHOOD — 
PECULIARITIES  OF  THE  STREET — PINE  STREET — AMONG  THE  MONEYED  MEN — WEST  AND 
SOUTH  STREETS— ALONG  THE  WATER  SIDE— BUSY  SCENES  265 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
DIVORCES  WITHOUT  PUBLICITY. 

QUEER  ADVERTISEMENTS — THE  "DIVORCE  RING  " — ITS  FIELD  OF  OPERATIONS — THE  DIVORCE 
LAWYER — WHO  HE  IS — HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  RING  SCENE  IN  A  LAW- 
YER'S   OFFICE  A    RICH    CLIENT  "  OFF    WITH    THE  OLD  LOVE  AND  ON  WITH  THE  NEW" — A 

CHARACTERISTIC  CASE—"  THE  EASIEST  THING  IN  THE  WORLD  TO  GET  A  DIVORCE"— WEST- 
ERN DIVORCES — HOW  A  MERCHANT  MADE  A  MISTRESS  OF  HIS  WIFE— WHO  ARE  THE  CLIENTS 
—COST  OF  A  DIVORCE— HOW  IT  IS  MANAGED— THE  REFEREE  SYSTEM— SPOTTING  A  HUSBAND- 
MANUFACTURING  EVIDENCE — THE  "  OLD  MAN  "  ENTRAPPED — PROFESSIONAL  WITNESSES — 
THE  DIVORCE  LAWYER'S  SYSTEM  OF  DRUMMING  UP  BUSINESS— DIRTY  WORK  FOR  TEN  PER 
CENT. — SERVING  A  SUMMONS — A  MOCKERY  OF  JUSTICE — POWER  OF  THE  RING — THE  COURTS 
AND  BAR  AFRAID  TO  BREAK  IT  UP  281 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
CHRISTMAS  IN  NEW  YORK. 

PREPARATIONS  FOR  CHRISTMAS — HOLIDAY  APPEARANCE  OF  THE  CITY — STREET  SCENES — BUSINESS 
BOOMING- — SCENES  IN  THE  CITY  BY  NIGHT — A  NOVEL  SIGHT  ON  THE  ELEVATED  RAILROAD 
TRAINS — BUSY  TIMES  IN  THE  MARKETS — THE  TURKEYS — TRINITY  CHIMES — MIDNIGHT  SER- 
VICES— CHRISTMAS  DAY — HOW  IT  IS  OBSERVED  IN  NEW  YORK — CHRISTMAS  WITH  THE  POOR- 

290 


CONTENTS. 


XI 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
PUBLIC  BUILDINGS. 

THE  CITY  HALL — THE  GOVERNOR'S  ROOM — THE  COUNTY  COURT  HOUSE — REMINISCENCES  OF  THE 
"  TWEED  KING" — THE  HALL  OF  RECORDS — THE  UNITED  STATES  SUB-TREASURY — THE  GREAT 

VAULTS — HOW  UNCLE  SAM'S  MONEY  IS  GUARDED — THE  ASSAY  OFFICE  THE  CUSTOM  HOUSE — 

A  NOBLE  EDIFICE — THE  BUSINESS  OF  THE  PORT  OF  NEW  YORK  DUTIES  OF  OFFICIALS— THE 

BARGE  OFFICE — PASSING  THROUGH  THE  CUSTOM  HOUSE  CUSTOM  HOUSE  BROKERS  TAM- 
MANY  HALL  THE  TAMMANY  SOCIETY — POLITICAL    ORGANIZATION  "BOSS    KELLY  " — THE 

COOPER  UNION — WORK  OF  THE  INSTITUTION — THE  BIBLE  HOUSE — A  GREAT  WORK  DONE — THE 
NATIONAL  ACADEMY  OF  DESIGN — HOW  THE  SCHOOLS  ARE  CONDUCTED  ANNUAL  EXHIBI- 
TIONS— THE  YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION  BUILDING — THE  LECTURE  ROOM — A 
REFUGE  FOR  YOUNG  MEN — THE  GRAND  CENTRAL  RAILROAD  DEPOT — INTERNAL  ARRANGE- 
MENTS—THE CAR  HOUSE— THE  FOURTH  AVENUE  TUNNELS.  296 

CHAPTER  XX. 
NEW  YEAR'S  CALLS. 

new  York's  great  festal  day — preparations  for  new  year's  day — the  hair-dressers' 
rounds  reception  cards — how  they  are  issued — joint  receptions  the  card-bas- 
ket and  its  meaning — ladies'  toilets — a  chance  for  reform — the  first  callers— 

the  veterans — advantages  of  a  list — scenes  toward  nightfall — too  much  punch  

mrs.  b.'s  reception — a  sweet  finale — new  year  in  the  kitchen — how  the  saloons, 
celebrate  the  day — refreshments  and  punch  for  all — new  york  with  a  head- 
ache— ladies'  day.  320 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
AMONG  THE  BULLS  AND  BEARS  OF  WALL  STREET. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  WALL  STREET — VALUE  OF  REAL  ESTATE — ENORMOUS  RENTS — ORIGIN  OF  THE 

NAME  OF  THE  STREET — NOTABLE   BUILDINGS — TRANSACTIONS  OF   THE   STREET  THE  SCENE 

AT  NOON — THE  STOCK  EXCHANGE— THE   LONG  ROOM — OUTSIDE   DEALERS — THE  REGULAR 

BOARD — HOW  BUSINESS  IS  CONDUCTED  IN  THE  EXCHANGE  THE  VICE-PRESIDENT — RULES  OK 

THE    EXCHANGE  GOOD    FAITH    EXACTED    OF    ITS    MEMBERS — THE   GOVERNMENT  BOARD  

CHARACTERISTIC  SCENES — THE  VAULTS  AND  THEIR  TREASURES — THE  TELEGRAPH  INSTRU- 
MENTS— THE  "TICKERS" — LIFE    OF  A    STOCK    BROKER — SPORTS  OF  THE   EXCHANGE — THE 

CLEARING  HOUSE  AND  ITS  OPERATIONS  CURBSTONE  BROKERS — RECKLESS  TRANSACTIONS  

STOCK  SPECULATIONS — BUYING  AND  SELLING  ON  COMMISSION — UNCERTAINTIES  OF  THE 
STREET— HOW  FORTUNES  ARE  MADE  AND  LOST  ON  WALL  STREET— STOCK  GAMBLING— WHO 

ARE  THE  SPECULATORS  A  DARING  BROKER — "  BLACK   FRIDAY  " — HOW  AN  OPERATOR  WA? 

RUINED  STOCK  SWINDLERS — SHARPERS   IN  WALL  STREET — THE    COMBINATION  SYSTEM — A 

BAREFACED  SWINDLE — ACTION  OF  THE  GENERAL  GOVERNMENT — HOW  BOGUS  OPERATORS 
FLEECE  UNSUSPECTING  CUSTOMERS — AN  INSIDE  VIEW  OF  THE  COMBINATION  SYSTEM- 
ENORMOUS  PROFITS — THE  SWINDLE  EXPOSED — A  WARNING  TO  WOULD-BE  SPECULATORS.  330 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
ALONG  THE  WHARVES. 

WRETCHED  CHARACTER  OF  THE  WHARVES — PLAN  FOR  A  NEW  SYSTEM — THE  NORTH  RIVER 
FRONT — THE  RAILROAD  PIERS— THE  FERRY  HOUSES— THE  FOREIGN  STEAMSHIPS — THE 
FLOATING  PALACES  OF  THE  HUDSON  AND  LONG  ISLAND  SOUND — THE  BETHEL — THE  BOAT 
STORES — THE  GRAIN  ELEVATORS — THE  EAST  RIVER  FRONT — SAILING  VESSELS — THE  SHIP 
YARDS — THE  DRY  DOCKS — THE  CANAL  BOATS— SCENES  ON  BOARD — THE  FRUIT  TRADE — THE 
FISH  MARKET— SCENES  ALONG  THE  WHARVES— ACCIDENTS— TH E  RESCUE  STATION?— THE 
VOLUNTEER  LIFE-SAVING  CORPS—"  NAN,  THE  LIFE  SAVER."  360 


Xll 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 
POLICE. 

ORIGIN    OF   THE    NEW  YORK    POLICE    FORCE— THE    OLD    TIME  POLICEMEN — "  OLD    HAYES  " — 

INCREASE  OF  CRIME — GEORGE  W.  MATSELL — THE  FIRST  REGULAR. POLICE  FORCE — OPPOSITION 

TO   IT — THE  METROPOLITAN  POLICE    FORCE  ORGANIZED  THE  MUNICIPAL  POLICE — POLICE 

HEADQUARTERS — THE  COMMISSIONERS — SUPERINTENDENT  WALLING — THE  SUBORDINATE 
OFFICERS — THE  PATROLMEN — QUALIFICATIONS  OF  A  POLICEMAN — THE  BROADWAY  SQUAD — 
DUTIES  OF  THE  FORCE— OMNIPRESENCE  OF  THE  POLICE— POWER  OVER  THE  ROUGHS— DAN- 
GERS OF  A  POLICEMAN'S  LIFE— DARING  EXFLOITS  OF  CAPTAINS  WILLIAMS  AND  ALLAIRE- 
FIGHTING  A  MOB — FEAR  OF  THE  "  LOCUSTS  "—UNIFORM  OF  THE  FORCE — HOW  THE  CITY  IS 

PATROLLED — HOURS  OF  DUTY — A  SINGULAR  POLICEMAN — HOW  PETE  JOINED  THE  FORCE  

HIS  SERVICES — ARRESTS— THE  STATION  HOUSES— INTERNAL  ARRANGEMENTS— THE  "BUM- 
MERS* ROOMS  " — HOW  VAGRANTS  ARE  LODGED — THE  SERGEANT  IN  CHARGE — A  NIGHT  IN  A 
POLICE  STATION— A  FEMALE  TRAMP—"  DRUNK  AND  DISORDERLY  '' — A  CASE  OF  DISTRESS — A 
FRUITLESS  ERRAND — A  NEW  WAY  TO  GET  HOME  AT  NIGHT — SEARCH  FOR  A  MISSING  HUSBAND 
— A  POLITICAL  ROW — YOUNG  BLOODS  ON  A  LARK — COSTLY  FUN — A  WOULD-BE-SUICIDE — 
BROUGHT  BACK  FROM  THE  GRAVE — A  JOLLY  TRAMP — A  GHASTLY  SPECTACLE — MASKERS  IN  A 

STATION  HOUSE  THE  MOUNTED  POLICE— A  SENSIBLE  HORSE— THE  HARBOR  POLICE— A  HARD 

LIFE — PROVISION  FOR  DISABLED  POLICEMEN  AND  THEIR  FAMILIES  368 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
FERRIES. 

new  York's  only  means  of  communication  with  the  main  land — number  of  ferries — 

the  ferry  boats — crossing  in  a  fog  annoyances  of  ferry  travel  the  ferry 

houses — a  moonlight  ride  on  a  ferry  boat — a  suicide — accidents.  .      .      .  404 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
THE  PRISONS  OF  NEW  YORK. 

THE  TOMBS — DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  BUILDING — THE  INTERIOR — THE  "  BRIDGE  OF  SIGHS" — 
PLACE  OF  EXECUTION — THE  MALE  PRISON — THE  CELLS — THE  WOMEN'S  PRISON — THE 
"BUMMERS'  HALL" — THE  WARDEN'S  OFFICE — THE  "  SWELL  CELLS" — THE  BOYS*  PRISON — 
RELIGIOUS  SERVICES — GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  TOMBS — WARDEN  FINN — THE  MATRON — A 
PRISON  OF  DETENTION — NOTED  ESCAPES  FROM  THE  TOMES — "  BLACK  MARIA  " — THE 
POLICE  COURT— HOW   PRISONERS  ARE   DISPOSED   OF— THE   COURT   OF   SPECIAL  SESSIONS — 

THE  "TOMBS  SHYSTERS"  LUDLOW  STREET  JAIL  THE  SHERIFF'S  PRISON — IMPRISONMENT 

FOR    DEBT — CAPTIVE     MILITIAMEN — FEDERAL    PRISONERS — EXTORTIONS    PRACTICED  UPON 

PRISONERS — HOW  THE  DEPUTY  SHERIFFS  BLEED  THEIR  VICTIMS  409 

I 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
PUBLIC  SQUARES. 

THE  BATTERY  PARK— ITS  HISTORY— THE  BATTERY  IN  OLD  TIMES— ITS  PRESENT  CONDITION— A 
DELIGHTFUL  BREATHING  PLACE — THE  BARGE  OFFICE — THE  BOWLING  GREEN — THE  CITY 
HALL  PARK— TOMPKINS  SQUARE— SQUANDERING  THE  PUBLIC  FUNDS — A  FINE  PARK  RUINED— 

WASHINGTON    SQUARE  UNION    SQUARE    AND  ITS   SURROUNDINGS — THE  "  SLAVE  MARKET" 

— STU YVES ANT  SQUARE — MADISON  SQUARE — A  DELIGHTFUL  PLEASURE-GROUND — MAGNIFI- 
CENT SURROUNDINGS — GRAM  MERCY  PARK — RESERVOIR  SQUARE — MOUNT  MORRIS  SQUARE — 
MORNINGSIDE  PARK — F.IVBRSIDE  PARK.  422 


CONTENTS. 


Xlll 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 
THE  PAWNBROKERS  AND  THEIR  WAYS. 

I-HH  SIGN  OF  THE  THREE  BALLS  LAWS  RESPECTING  PAWNBROKERS  HOW  LICENSES  ARE  ISSUED  

DISREGARD  OF  THE  LAW  BY  THE  PAWNBROKERS  SOURCES  OF  PROFIT— EXCESSIVE  INTEREST  

STORAGE   CHARGES  SALES  OF    UNREDEEMED    GOODS  WHO  ARE  THE   PAWNBROKERS — THE 

JEWS — A  DISHONEST  CLASS — SUCKING  THE  LIFE-BLOOD  OF  THE  POOR — HOW  CUSTOMERS  ARE 

SWINDLED  CHARACTERISTIC  SCENE  IN  A  PAWN  SHOP  THE  JEWS1  ONE  PER  CENT.— AN  INSIDE 

VIEW  OF  THE  BUSINESS— DRUMMING  UP  CUSTOM  432 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 

PLANS  FOR  A  GRAND  PARK — CHOICE  OF  A  SITE — THE  PARK  COMMISSION  ORGANIZED— DIFFICUL- 
TIES IN  THE  WAY  THE  WORK  BEGUN — THE  RESULT  THE  CENTRAL  PARK  OF  TO-DAY — COST 

OF  THE  PARK  THE   UPPER   AND    LOWER  PARKS — THE  ENTRANCES  THE   POND  THE  OLD 

ARSENAL  THE   MENAGERIE  THE   METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATORY  THE  BALL   GROUND — 

THE  DAIRY — AMUSEMENTS    FOR    CHILDREN — THE  GREEN  THE  SHEEPFOLD  THE  SEVENTH 

REGIMENT  STATUE  STATUEOF  WEBSTER — THE  MARBLE  ARCH — THE  MALL  STATUES  ON  THE 

MALL — THE  PLAZA  THE  VINE-COVERED  WALK  THE  ARCADE — THE  TERRACE  THE  ESPLAN- 
ADE— THE  BETH ESD A  FOUNTAIN  THE  LAKE — BOATING  SKATING  SCENES  THE  CONSERVA- 
TORY WATER  THE  RAMBLE — THE  CAVE  THE  BELVEDERE  THE  CROTON  RESERVOIRS  THE 

UPPER  PARK  HARLEM  BEER  THE  OLD  POWDER  HOUSE  THE  METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM  OF 

ART — THE  DI  CESNOLA  COLLECTION — THE  OBELISK — A  VENERABLE  RELIC  OF  THE  ANCIENT 
WORLD — THE  AMERICAN  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY — THE  TRANSVERSE  ROADS   A  TRI- 
UMPH OF  ENGINEERING — THE  PARK  COMMISSION — THE  POLICE  REGULATIONS— PARK  TRAFFIC. 

•  440 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 
TRINITY  CHURCH. 

"OLD  TRINITY" — THE  THREE  CHURCHES— DESCRIPTION  OF  TRINITY  CHURCH — THE  INTERIOR — » 
THE  ALTAR  AND  REREDOS — THE  WINDOWS — THE  SERVICES — FINE  MUSIC — DAILY  SIGHTS  IN 

TRINITY — THE  SPIRE  THE    CHIMES — VIEW    FROM  THE   SPIRE — THE  CHURCHYARD — NOTED 

TOMBS — TRINITY  PARISH — THE  CHAPELS — WEALTH  OF  THE  PARISH — ITS  NOBLE  WORK.  469 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
THE  LOST  SISTERHOOD. 

PREVALENCE   OF   PROSTITUTION   IN   NEW   YORK — POLICE   STATISTICS — FIRST-CLASS  HOUSES— 

THE    PROPRIETRESS  —  THE    INMATES  THE    ARISTOCRACY    OF    SHAME  THE    VISITORS  — 

VISITS    OF    MARRIED    MEN — AVERAGE    LIFE  OF    A    FASHIONABLE    PROSTITUTE  THE  NEXT 

STEP  THE    SECOND-CLASS    HOUSES — TERRORS    OF    THESE    PLACES  THE    GREENE  STREE1 

BAGNIOS  GOING  DOWN  INTO  THE  DEPTHS  THE  NEXT  STEP  THE  WATER  STREET  HELLS 

— AVERAGE  LIFE  OF  A  PROSTITUTE — "  THE  WAGES  OF  SIN  IS  DEATH" — HOW  YOUNG  GIRLS 
ARE  TEMPTED  INTO  SIN— EFFORTS  TO  SAVE  AN  ERRING  DAUGHTER — THE  STREET  WALK* 
ERS— THE    PANEL  HOUSES — HOW    MEN  ARE  ROBBED  AND  MURDERED  IN  THESE  HOUSES — 

THE  CONCERT  SALOONS  THE  WAITER  GIRLS  THE  DANCE  HALLS — THE  "  BUCKINGHAM"  

THE  "CREMORNE" — BUCKINGHAM  BALLS — ASSIGNATION  HOUSES — PERSONALS — THE  MID- 
NIGHT MISSION  —  REFORMATORY  ESTABLISHMENTS  —  ABORTIONISTS  —  THE  WICKEDEST 
WOMAN  IN  NEW  YORK.   474 


XIV 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 
JAY  GOULD. 

EARLY  LIFE  OP   THE   GREAT    FINANCIER  —  PERSONAL   APPEARANCE — KNOWLEDGE   OF  LAW — 

ENTERS  THE  ERIE  ROAD— BLACK  FRIDAY— HOW  GOULD  CAME  OUT  OF  IT— A  SHREWD 
GAME  IN  "ERIE" — HIS  WEALTH — ATTACKED  IN  WALL  STREET — HIS  METHOD  OF  OPER- 
ATING 496 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 
THE  NATIONAL  GUARD. 

THE  FIRST  DIVISION— ITS  ORGANIZATION— HOW  ARMED — APPROPRIATIONS  BY  THE  CITY — 
PRIVATE  EXPENSES — THE  COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF — EFFICIENCY  OF  THE  TROOPS — PAST 
SERVICES  OF  THE  FORCE — OVERAWING  THE  MOB — PUTTING  DOWN  RIOTS — A  REINFORCE- 
MENT TO  THE  POLICE — DISCIPLINE— THE  ARMORIES — THE  SEVENTH  REGIMENT  ARMORY — 
PARADES  499 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 
WILLIAM  H.  VANDERBILT. 

THE  RICHEST  MAN  IN  NEW  YORK — EARLY  LIFE — BECOMES  A  FARMER — ENTERS  THE  RAILROAD 
WORLD — BECOMES  VICE-PRESIDENT  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  CENTRAL  SYSTEM — SUCCEEDS  THE 
OLD  COMMODORE — THE  VANDERBILT  PALACES — LOVE  OF  FAST  HORSES.  .         .  503 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 
CRIME  IN  NEW  YORK. 

PROFESSIONAL  CRIMINALS — THEIR  NUMBERS — THE  THIEVES— SUPERINTENDENT  WALLING*S  DE- 
SCRIPTION OF  THEM— THE  THIEF  LANGUAGE— GRADES  OF  THIEVES — BURGLARS— BANK  ROB- 
BERS SNEAK    THIEVES  CONFIDENCE    MEN  HOW    THEY    OPERATE  THE    PICKPOCKETS — 

WHERE  THEY  COME  FROM — THE  ROGUES'  GALLERY — THE  RIVER  THIEVES— DARING  CRIMES 
— THE  FENCES— HOW  STOLEN  GOODS  ARE  DISPOSED  OF— TRICKS  OF  THB  FENCES— THE 
ROUGHS— BLACKMAILERS — HOW  THEY  FLEECE  THEIR  VICTIMS  506 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 
CREEDMOOR. 

THE  NATIONAL  RIFLE  ASSOCIATION  OF  AMERICA — THE  CREEDMOOR  RANGE — THE  GROUNDS 
— THE  TARG'ETS — SHOOTING  MATCHES — NATIONAL  GUARD  PRACTICE — AMATEUR  MARKS- 
MEN. 527 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 
BAR-ROOMS. 

ARRESTS  FOR  DRUNKENNESS  AND  DISORDER — NUMBER  OF  LICENSED  BAR-ROOMS — THE  DRINK- 
ING CAPACITY  OF  WALL  STREET — AMOUNT  OF  BEER  DRANK — THE  LARGEST  BAR  IN  THB 
WORLD  AN  ENORMOUS  BUSINESS  IN  RUM  HIGH  RENTS  ASKED  FOR  BAR-ROOMS — THE  ALL- 
NIGHT  HOUSES  —  THE  BUCKET-SHOPS  —  GREAT  AMOUNT  OF  DRUNKENNESS  —  WOMEN  AS 
DRINKERS — WHERE  THEY  GET  THEIR  LIQUOR.   53° 


CONTENTS. 


XV 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
HENRY  BERGH. 

THE  FRIEND  OF  THE  BRUTE  CREATION— ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  "  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  PRE- 
VENTION OF  CRUELTY  TO  ANIMALS " — WORK  OF  MR.  BERGH— HOW  HE  BECAME  A  TERROR 
TO  TWO-LEGGED  BRUTES — A  NOBLE  RECORD.  534 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 
THE  EAST  RIVER  BRIDGE. 

TRAVEL   AND   TRAFFIC    BETWEEN   NEW   YORK   AND    BROOKLYN— THE    FERRIES— PLANS    FOR  A 

BRIDGE — THE    WORK    BEGUN — THE    GREAT    BRIDGE  THE    TOWERS — THE    BRIDGE  PROPER 

— THE  CENTRAL  SPAN — THE  CABLES— THE  ANCHORAGES— THE  APPROACHES— PLANS  FOR 
TRAVEL  ACROSS  THE  BRIDGE   537 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 
GAMBLERS  AND  THEIR  WAYS. 

LAWS  AGAINST  GAMBLING — NUMBER  OF  GAMBLERS  IN  THE  CITY — THE  FARO  BANKS — FIRST- 
CLASS    ESTABLISHMENTS — SPLENDID   VICE — THE    BROADWAY    HELLS  THE    SKIN    GAME — 

DANGERS  OF  SUCH    PLACES — THE  DAY  HOUSES  POOL-SELLINC-  TRICKS   OF  POOL-SELLERS 

— LOTTERIES— HOW   THEY    ARE   CONDUCTED— POLICY  DEALING — AN  INSIDE  VIEW  OF  THE 


GAME   542 

CHAPTER  XL. 
THE  HUDSON  RIVER  TUNNEL. 

A  DARING  UNDERTAKING — THE  WORK    BEGUN — ACCIDENTS — DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  TUNNELS — 
THE  PROPOSED   DEPOT  IN  NEW  YORK — PROSPECTS  OF  THE  SCHEME.         .         .         .  553 

CHAPTER  XLI. 

FASHIONABLE  SHOPPING. 

fashionable  stores — handsome  goods — the  fixed-price  system — detectives  on  the 
watch — "Stewart's" — enormous  transactions  there  556 

CHAPTER  XLII. 
TENEMENT  HOUSES. 


density  of  population  IN  NEW  YORK— number  of  tenement  houses  and  inhabitants 

— CAUSES  OF  LIVING  IN  TENEMENT  HOUSES — HIGH  RENTS — HOMES  OF  THE  WORKING 
CLASS— HOPES  FOR  THE  FUTURE— VARIETIES  OF  TENEMENT  HOUSES — A  SPECIMEN— CLOSE 
PACKING — RENTS  OF  APARTMENTS — EVILS  OF  THE  SYSTEM  559 

CHAPTER  XLIII. 
JERRY  McAULEY's  MISSION. 


WATER    STREET — THE   MISSION  ITS   SUCCESS — JERRY  M'AULEY — THE  REFORMED  THIEF — MRS. 

M'AULEY — THE  PRAYER-MEETINGS — THE  AUDIENCE — JERRY  M'AULEY'S  METHODS  A  SCENE 

AT  A  PRAYER-MEETING— A  WONDERFUL  WORK.  563 


XVI 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 
METROPOLITAN  AMUSEMENTS. 

THE  PRINCIPAL  THEATRES— METROPOLITAN  AUDIENCES— EXPENSES  OF  A  FIRST-CLASS  THEATRE 
— SALARIES  OF  ACTORS — PRODUCTION  OF  NEW  PLAYS— LONG  RUNS — "  BOOTH'S  "  THEATRE 
A  MODEL  ESTABLISHMENT — THE  GRAND  OPERA  HOUSE — "  WALLACK'S  " — "  THE  UNION 
SQUARE  " — "  daly's  " — THE  academy  of  MUSIC — VARIETY  THEATRES — THE  grand 
DUKE'S  THEATRE— NEGRO  MINSTRELS— CONCERTS— LECTURES.  .         .         .         .  SJ\ 

CHAPTER  XLV. 
LIFE  UNDER  THE  SHADOW. 

POVERTY  IN  NEW  YORK — THE  DESERVING  POOR — SAD  SCENES — "RAGPICKERS*  ROW  " — HOW 
THE  RAGPICKERS  LIVE — AN  ITALIAN  COLONY — SOUR  BEER — DRUNKENNESS  IN  "  RAGPICK- 
ERS*  ROW  "  BOTTLE    ALLEY — A    RELIC   OF   THE   FIVE   POINTS — A   WRETCHED   QUARTER — 

THE  DWELLINGS  OF  POVERTY — THE  CELLARS — LIFE  BELOW  GROUND — BAXTER  STREET — 
THE  CHINESE  QUARTER — A  HOSPITAL  FOR  CATS  581 

CHAPTER  XL VI. 
THE  METROPOLITAN  PRESS. 

THE  DAILY  NEWSPAPERS — HOW  THE  LEADING  JOURNALS  ARE  CONDUCTED — THE  VARIOUS  DE- 
PARTMENTS— PRINTING-HOUSE  SQUARE — EDITORS*  SALARIES — THE  "  NEW  YORK  HERALD*' 

 THE   HERALD    OFFICE — JAMES   GORDON  BENNETT — CIRCULATION  OF  "  THE    HERALD  "  

THE  TRIBUNE  "  THE   TALL   TOWER*'  WHITELAW   REID  PROFITS    OF  "THE   TRIBUNE "  

"THE  TIMES,"  THE  LEADING  REPUBLICAN  JOURNAL — "THE  SUN,"  A  LIVELY  PAPER — 
CHARLES  A.  DANA — PROFITS  OF  "THE  SUN  " — THE  EVENING  PAPERS— WEEKLIES — MAGA- 
ZINES 592 

CHAPTER  XLVII. 
THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 

THE  METROPOLITAN  FIRE  DEPARTMENT — FIREMAN'S  HALL — THE  BOARD  OF  FIRE  COMMIS- 
SIONERS DIVISIONS  OF  THE   DEPARTMENT  THE   FORCE — UNIFORM  THE  ENGINE-HOUSES 

— INTERNAL  ARRANGEMENTS — THE  ENGINES — THE  HORSES— HOW  THEY  ARE  TRAINED — 
THE  SIGNAL  TOWERS — THE  ALARM  BOXES— FIRE  DISTRICTS — THE  FORCE  ON  DUTY — SCENES 
AT  A  FIRE — THE  INSURANCE  PATROL  AND  ITS  DUTIES — THE  "  FIRE  DEPARTMENT  RELIEF 
FUND*' — LIFE  OF  A  NEW  YORK  FIREMAN — HEROIC  DEEDS  002 

CHAPTER  XLVIIL 
HARRY  HILL'S. 

THE   BEST   KNOWN   DANCE-HOUSE   IN   NEW  YORK  THE    HALL — THE   AUDIENCE — THE  FEMALE 

VISITORS— THE  PERFORMANCES — DANCING— HARRY  HILL— THE  MIDNIGHT  HOUR — HARRY 
HILL  ON  DUTY   .  6l2 

CHAPTER  XLIX. 
JOHN  KELLY. 

"BOSS  KELLY  " — BIRTH   AND  EARLY  LIFE — EDUCATION — BEGINS  LIFE  AS  A  STONE-CUTTER — 

ENTERS  POLITICAL  LIFE  BECOMES  AN  ALDERMAN — ELECTED  TO  CONGRESS — HIS  CAREER 

IN   THE    HOUSE  OF   REPRESENTATIVES  —  IS    ELECTED    SHERIFF  —  LOSS   OF   HIS    FAMILY — 


NEW  YORK 

BY 

SUNLIGHT  AND  GASLIGHT. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  GREAT  METROPOLIS. 

GENERAL  DESCRIPTION  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY— LOCATION— NATURAL  ADVANTAGES — COMMERCIAL 

ADVANTAGES — THE  STREETS  BUILDINGS  CLIMATE  HEALTHFULNESS  MORTALITY — RAPID 

GROWTH    OF    THE    CITY  LOFTY    BUILDINGS — DESCRIPTION    OF  THE  MOST  NOTED  AND  THE 

HIGHEST  STRUCTURES  IN  THE  CITY — REASONS  FOR  BUILDING  SO  HIGH — LAND  CHEAP  UP 
STAIRS. 

New  York,  the  commercial  metropolis  of  America, 
is  also  the  largest  city  of  the  Western  Hemisphere. 
It  lies  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson  River,  and  occupies 
the  whole  of  Manhattan  Island,  Randall's,  Wards,  and 
Blackwell's  Islands,  in  the  East  River,  Bedloe's,  Ellis's 
and  Governor's  Islands  in  the  Bay,  and  a  portion  of  the 
main  land  of  West  Chester  County,  north  of  Manhattan 
Island,  and  separated  from  it  by  the  Harlem  River  and 
Spuyten  Duyvel  Creek.  Its  extreme  length  northward 
from  the  Battery  is  sixteen  miles ;  its  greatest  width, 
from  the  Hudson  to  the  mouth  of  the  Bronx  River,  is 
four  and  a  half  miles;  thus  giving  it  an  area  of  forty- 
one  and  a  half  square  miles,  or  twenty-six  thousand  five 
hundred  acres.  Of  these,  twelve  thousand  one  hundred 
acres  are  on  the  main  land.  The  city  proper — the  true 
2  33 


34 


NEW  YORK. 


New  York — stands  on  Manhattan  Island,  which  is 
thirteen  and  a  half  miles  in  length,  and  varies  in 
breadth  from  a  few  hundred  yards  to  two  and  a  half 
miles.  It  has  an  area  of  nearly  twenty-two  square 
miles,  or  about  fourteen  thousand  square  acres.  The 
island  is  irregular  in  formation,  having  somewhat  the 
shape  of  a  fan.  It  is  very  narrow  at  The  Battery,  its 
southern  end,  and  widens  rapidly  as  it  proceeds  north- 
ward. Its  extreme  length  on  the  western  or  Hudson 
River  side  is  thirteen  and  a  half  miles,  while  on  the  East 
River  side  it  is  nine  miles  long.  It  attains  its  greatest 
breadth  at  Fourteenth  and  Eighty-seventh  streets, 
where  it  is  about  two  and  a  half  miles  wide.  At  The 
Battery  the  land  is  but  a  few  inches  above  the  surface 
of  the  water,  but  from  that  point  it  rises  steadily  until 
it  reaches  its  northern  limit,  at  Washington  Heights,  a 
range  of  bold  and  beautiful  cliffs,  1 30  feet  above  the 
Hudson.  The  lower  part  of  the  island  is  sandy;  the 
upper  part  very  rocky.  Several  bridges  over  the  Har- 
lem River  and  Spuyten  Duyvel  Creek  afford  connection 
with  the  main  land,  and  numerous  lines  of  ferry  boats 
maintain  constant  intercourse  on  the  Long  Island  and 
New  Jersey  shores.  The  city  is  compactly  built  along 
the  western  side,  from  the  Battery  to  Fifty-ninth  street, 
the  lower  end  of  the  Central  Park.  From  that  point 
to  Manhattanville,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth 
street,  the  buildings  are  straggling,  and  above  Man- 
hattanville the  west  side  is  very  rural,  abounding  in 
country  seats,  market  gardens  and  miniature  farms. 
The  east  side  is  built  up  compactly  almost  the  whole 
way,  there  being  only  about  two  miles  of  space  that 
does  not  merit  this  description. 


HOW  NEW  YORK  IS  BUILT. 


35 


Situated  between  two  broad,  deep  rivers,  and  within 
sixteen  miles  of  the  sea,  upon  which  it  looks  out  from 
the  safety  of  its  well-sheltered  harbor,  Manhattan  Is- 
land was  designed  by  nature  as  the  seat  of  a  great 
commercial  metropolis.  Its  waters  are  deep  enough 
for  the  largest  vessels,  and  in  its  commodious  harbor 
the  fleets  of  the  world  could  ride  at  ease.  It  commands 
all  the  chief  routes  of  communication  with  the  great 
West  and  South,  and  steam  and  electricity  have  enabled 
it  to  reach  the  various  quarters  of  the  globe  as  easily 
and  as  quickly  as  any  of  its  old  world  rivals. 

New  York  is  a  magnificently  built  city.  The  lower 
portion  is  a  dense  mass  of  houses,  with  narrow  and 
often  crooked  streets.  This  is  the  business  quarter, 
and  is  not  so  thickly  populated  as  the  middle  districts. 
Above  Canal  street  the  streets  assume  a  more  regular 
formation.  They  are  broad  and  straight,  crossing  each 
other  at  right  angles,  and  are  laid  off  at  regular  inter- 
vals. In  the  lower  portion  of  the  city  all  the  streets 
are  designated  by  names.  Above  Houston  street,  the 
cross  streets,  or  those  extending  from  river  to  river,  are 
designated  by  numbers.  The  avenues  start  from  about 
Third  street,  and  extend  to  the  northern  end  of  the 
island.  The  city  is  substantially,  as  well  as  handsomely 
built.  It  contains  few  frame  houses,  the  prevailing 
materials  being  marble,  stone,  iron  and  brick.  Marble, 
iron,  and  the  lighter  colored  stones  are  used  principally 
in  the  construction  of  business  edifices,  but  the  resi- 
dences are  chiefly  of  brick  and  brown  stone.  Land  be- 
ing very  high  in  price,  the  buildings  are  generally  lofty, 
often  reaching  an  altitude  of  seven  and  eight,  and  some- 
times ten  and  twelve  stories.    The  business  edifices 


36 


NEW  YORK. 


have  generally  two  cellars  below  the  pavement,  with 
vaults  extending  out  under  the  street.  These  are  dry, 
are  well  lighted  and  ventilated,  and  are  used  for  the 
storage  of  goods.  As  a  rule,  the  business  houses  of 
the  city  are  handsome  and  elegant.  Every  convenience 
is  provided  for  the  prompt  and  proper  despatch  of  the 
business  of  the  establishment.  Time  is  everything  in 
New  York,  and  nothing  is  neglected  that  can  possibly 
aid  in  saving  it.  Within  these  magnificent  edifices  is 
gathered  the  wealth  of  the  world.  Compared  with  the 
treasures  they  contain,  the  fabled  wealth  of  Tyre  of  old 
sinks  into  insignificance.  The  private  residences  of  the 
city  are  among  the  handsomest  in  the  world,  and,  as  a 
rule,  are  furnished  with  elegance  and  taste.  The  city 
has  all  the  substantial  appearance  of  London,  and  a 
large  part  of  the  brightness  and  beauty  of  Paris.  It 
is  a  worthy  rival  to  either,  and  is  in  many  respects  their 
superior. 

New  York  is  highly  favored  as  regards  its  climate. 
Its  proximity  to  the  sea  mitigates  the  cold  of  the  win- 
ters, and  the  cool  ocean  breezes  temper  the  fierce  heats 
of  the  summer  In  the  latter  season  the  lower  part  of 
the  city  may  be  stifling,  but  above  Thirty- fourth  street, 
and  in  all  the  upper  quarters,  the  breeze  is  constant  and 
refreshing.  If  New  York  were  not  a  great  city  it  would 
unquestionably  be  the  principal  watering  place  of  the 
continent.  Snow  rarely  lies  in  its  streets,  and  the 
people  consider  themselves  in  high  good  fortune  when 
the  winter  is  sufficiently  cold  to  hold  the  snow  long 
enough  to  give  them  a  few  days  of  sleighing. 

I  have  said  that  New  York  combines  the  solidity  pf 
London  with  the  beauty  of  Paris.    Over  it  hangs  a  sky 


ARCHITECTURAL  CHANGES. 


41 


York,  are  unknown.  Old  architects  state  that  they  can 
hardly  conceive  the  wonderful  changes,  wrought  mainly 
by  their  own  hands,  on  taking  a  retrospect  of  the  city 
of  their  youth,  and  they  stand  amazed  at  the.  giant 
structures  rising  all  over  the  city  to  take  the  place  of 
buildings  which  less  than  twenty  years  ago  were  con- 
sidered ornaments  of  New 'York.  Forty  years  ago, 
when  Griffith  Thomas  arrived  in  New  York,  he  says  he 
found  only  two  architects  here,  Messrs.  Dacon  and 
Davis.  To-day  there  are  about  five  hundred  architects 
in  this  city ;  and  the  practice,  then  quite  general,  of  a 
builder's  making  his  own  plans  and  designs  is  entirely 
abandoned.  Thirty  years  ago  Mr.  Renwick,  then  only 
twenty-three  years  old,  built  Grace  Church,  at  Tenth 
street  and  Broadway,  as  the  building,  forty  feet  high, 
formerly  occupied  by  that  congregation  at  Rector  street 
and  Broadway  had  to  be  changed  into  offices;  it  was 
in  1846  that  Dr.  Wainwright  and  Dr.  Taylor  preached 
their  last  sermons  in  the  old  church,  which  was  soon 
changed  to  an  eighty-feet  building.  In  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  old  Grace  Church  used  to  stand  Bunker's 
Hotel,  a  well-known  landmark  of  the  time.  It  was 
surrounded  by  buildings  all  three  stories  high ;  to-day 
not  a  vestige  remains  of  any  of  these  small  buildings, 
and  the  lower  part  of  Broadway  is  filled  with  structures 
ranging  from  six  to  seven  stories.  One  of  the  highest 
residences  of  New  York,  on  Broadway,  at  the  time 
named  was  the  house  occupied  by  John  F.  Delaplaine. 
It  was  forty-five  feet  high,  and  considerably  over- 
shadowed the  adjoining  two-story  residence.  The 
ground  is  to-day  occupied  by  what  is  known  as  the 
Exchange  Building,  at  Nos.  78  and  80  Broadway,  which 


42 


NEW  YORK. 


is  filled  with  offices,  and  is  not  less  than  eighty-five  feet 
high.  The  Franklin  House — which  was  considered  a 
rather  high  building,  being  sixty  feet  in  height — at  Dey 
street,  and  Broadway,  has  had  to  make  room  for  the 
building  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company, 
which  is  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet  in  height  to  the 
roof  (the  tower  being  two  hundred  and  thirty  feet 
above  the  sidewalk).  On  the  other  side  of  Broadway, 
the  Park  Bank  Building,  ninety-five  feet  high,  has  now 
for  several  years  overlapped  The  Herald  office,  and 
these  two  again  have  been  recently  overtopped  by  the 
nine-story  building  of  The  Evening  Post. 

"On  the  side  streets,  the  same  principle  of  building 
upward  appears  to  have  guided  the  various  improve- 
ments, even  the  old  Tontine  Building,  at  Wall  and  Wa- 
ter streets,  having  been  raised  fifteen  feet  higher  than 
it  was  formerly,  when  the  old  coffee-house  attracted  the 
attention  and  the  cash  of  old  New  Yorkers.  The  staid 
old  Bank  of  New  York,  at  William  and  Wall  streets, 
where  Commodore  Yanderbilt  could  always  be  found  at 
certain  hours  of  the  day,  during  his  latter  years,  is  now 
a  six-story  building,  where  before  only  two  stories  were 
considered  ample  accommodation  for  all  those  trans- 
acting business  within  its  walls.  The  Drexel  Building, 
at  Broad  and  Wall  streets,  with  its  high  basement  and 
seven  stories,  looms  up  gigantically  on  the  spot  where 
only  a  few  years  ago  stood  an  unpretending  three-story 
building — which,  however,  was  sold  for  the  highest  price 
ever  paid  for  real  estate  in  New  York — while  the  Stock 
Exchange,  right  across  Broad  street,  is  fully  eighty-five 
feet  high,  and  has  taken  the  place  of  a  number  of  brick 
stores  thirty  feet  less  in  height.    The  beautiful  white 


EVENING  POST  BUILDING. 


STATELY  BUILDINGS.  45 

place  of  business  there  for  some  time,  and  removed  to 
make  room  for  the  stately  building  now  owned  and 
occupied  by  the  New  York  Life  Insurance  Company. 
This  building,  erected  by  Thomas  and  finished  in  1868, 
has  four  stories  in  front  and  eight  in  the  back,  and  part 
of  it  stands  on  very  high  ground.  The  Knickerbocker 
Life  Insurance  Company's  building  on  the  corner  of 


NEW  YORK  LIFE  INSURANCE  COMPANY'S  BUILDING. 


Park  Place  is  ninety-five  feet  high,  and  has  taken 
the  place  of  some  four-story  brick  houses,  where  the 
Mechanics'  Library  Association,  in  times  past,  kept  its 
books  and  held  its  meetings. 

"  But  not  only  are  there  high  buildings  occupied  by 
public  institutions,  insurance  companies,  banks,  and 
newspaper  offices;  throughout  the  lower  part  of  the 


48 


NEW  YORK. 


ground.  Across  the  Square,  on  the  corner  of  East 
Fourteenth  street,  the  German  Savings  Bank  building 
of  ninety  feet,  with  its  mansard  and  high  basement, 
has  replaced  the  old  Belvidere  Hotel,  while  a  block 
further  up,  on  the  corner  of  East  Fifteenth  street,  the 

Union  Square  Hotel, 
remodeled,  has  had  forty 
feet  added  to  its  height. 
The  building  owned  by 
the  Singer  Sewing  Ma- 
li chine  Company,  at  East 
Sixteenth  street  and 
Union  Square,  is  nearly 
one  hundred  feet  high, 
while  looking  beyond 
the  Square,  the  eye 
takes  in  at  once  the 
n|j  prominent  store  of  Ar- 
nold, Constable  &  Co., 
filling  the  entire  block 
between  Eighteenth 
and  Nineteenth  streets, 
on  the  ground  where 
only  a  very  few  years 
ago  stood  nothing  but 
two-story  shanties. 
"  Further  up  town  the 
Stevens  Apartment  House,  at  Twenty-seventh  street 
and  Fifth  avenue,  attracts  attention  by  its  extraordinary 
height,  one  hundred  and  ten  feet,  where  before  stood 
only  three  and  four-story  houses,  and  on  the  corner  of 
Forty-seventh  street  a  number  of  three-story  houses 


TRIBUNE  BUILDING. 


RAPID  GROWTH  IN  POPULATION. 


51 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  PEOPLE  OF  NEW  YORK. 

POPULATION  OF  NEW  YORK  IN  1870 — THE  STATE  CENSUS  OF  1875— WHAT  CHANGES  TT  SHOWED— POPU- 
LATION IN  1880  POPULATION  AFFECTED  BY  THE  IMPROVEMENTS  IN  THE  LOWER  PART  OF  THE 

CITY — THE   MOST  DENSELY  SETTLED   PART  OF  NtW   YORK — THE  FLOATING   POPULATION — 

STRANGERS  IN  NEW  YORKi — FOREIGN  DISTRICTS'  COSMOPOLITAN  CHARACTER  OF  THE  PEOPLE 

 CHARACTERISTICS  OF  NEW  YORKERS— LACK  OF  PUBLIC  SPIRIT — INDIFFERENCE  TO  POLITI- 
CAL AFFAIRS — THE  RESULT — THE  RACE  FOR  WEALTH — HOW  BUSINESS  IS  DONE  IN  NEW  YORK — 
WEARING  OUT  BODY  AND  SOUL — A  PHILOSOPHICAL  MERCHANT — A  NEW  COMER'S  IMPRESSIONS 
— LIVING  TOO  FAST — NO  CHANCE  FOR  LAGGARDS — HOW  SUCCESS  IS  WON — MERIT  THE  TEST — 
NEW  YORK  FROM  A  MORAL  POINT  OF  VIEW — ITS  CHARITIES  AND  BENEVOLENCE — TOLERATION 
OF  OPINIONS  AND  BELIEFS — MENTAL  CULTURE  OF  THE  PEOPLE — WHAT  IT  COSTS  TO  LIVE  IN 
NEW  YORK— THE  RICH  AND  THE  MIDDLE  CLASSES— NEW  YORK  AS  A  PLACE  OF  RESIDENCE — 
ATTACHMENT  OF  THE  PEOPLE  TO  THE  CITY. 

According  to  the  Ninth  Census  of  the  United  States, 
the  population  of  New  York  in  1870  was  973,106  souls. 
This  return  was  not  satisfactory  to  the  citizens  of  the 
Metropolis,  who  claimed  that  it  greatly  under-estimated 
the  actual  number  of  residents.  In  the  summer  of  1875 
a  census  of  the  city  was  taken,  by  order  of  the  Legis- 
lature of  the  State.  This  enumeration  showed  the 
population  in  that  year  to  be  1,064,272,  an  increase  of 
91,166  inhabitants  since  1 870.  In  1 880,  the  Tenth  Cen- 
sus of  the  United  States  gave  the  population  as  1,209, 
56i. 

The  census  of  1875  was  deeply  interesting,  imper- 
fect as  it  was  conceded  to  be.  It  showed  many  changes 
in  various  portions  of  the  city,  recording  a  gain  for 
some  sections  and  a  decrease  for  others.  The  falling 
off  was  mainly  in  the  lower  wards,  where  business 
houses  predominate.  In  the  strictly  commercial  quar- 
ters dwellings  are  very  rare,  and  the  population  is  made 
up  almost  entirely  of  janitors  and  their  families,  who 


52 


NEW  YORK. 


occupy  the  upper  floors  of  business  houses  and  public 
buildings.  The  population  of  the  Sixth  Ward  was 
shown  to  be  noo  less  in  1875  tnan  m  1870.  In  1880 
it  had  regained  about  150  of  its  loss.  This  is  one  of 
the  most  wretched  and  wicked  sections  of  the  city;  "the 
Five  Points  "  is  its  centre.  For  some  years  it  has  been 
improving  in  character,  though  "  the  Five  Points  "  and 
Baxter  street  are  bad  enough  yet.  During  the  past 
ten  or  twelve  years  many  of  its  old  haunts  have  been 
broken  up,  numerous  factories  and  business  establish- 
ments have  been  erected  on  their  sites,  and  Worth 
street  has  been  widened  and  opened  from  Broadway  to 
the  Bowery,  making  a  clear,  wide  path  through  what 
was  once  an  eyesore  to  the  city  and  a  chosen  haunt  of 
vice  and  crime.  In  1875  the  greatest  increase  was  in 
the  wards  adjoining  the  Central  Park,  in  which  the  gain 
was  over  fifty  thousand,  and  in  1880  the  increase  was 
proportionally  larger.  This  is  accounted  for  by  the 
steady  up-town  movement  of  the  population,  which  will 
no  doubt  be  greatly  accelerated  by  the  elevated  rail- 
roads, which  now  bring  all  parts  of  the  city  within  easy 
and  rapid  reach  of  each  other.  The  largest  increase 
of  all,  in  1875,  was  m  the  Nineteenth  Ward,  which  lies 
east  of  the  Sixth  avenue,  and  between  Fortieth  and 
Eightieth  streets.  In  1870  the  population  of  this 
ward  was  86,090,  in  1875  it  was  125,196,  showing  an 
increase  of  39,106  in  five  years.  In  1880  it  had  reached 
the  enormous  figure  of  158,108  inhabitants,  thus  gain- 
ing 32>912  people  since  1875,  or  72,018  in  ten  years. 

The  most  densely  populated  portion  of  New  York 
is  the  region  embraced  in  the  Seventh,  Tenth,  and 
Thirteenth  wards,  which  lie  upon  either  side  of  East 


MERIT  WINS  IN  NEW  YORK. 


59 


They  take  no  root,  and  have  no  hold  upon  any  genuine 
interest ;  they  attain  no  permanent  success.  It  is  only 
genuine  merit  that  succeeds  in  the  great  city.  Men  are 
here  subjected  to  a  test  that  soon  takes  the  conceit 
out  of  them.  They  are  taken  for  just  what  they  are 
worth,  and  no  more,  and  he  must  show  himself  a  man 
indeed  who  would  take  his  place  among  the  princes  of 
trade,  or  among  the  leaders  of  thought  and  opinion. 
He  may  bring  with  him  from  his  distant  home  the 
brightest  of  reputations,  but  here  he  will  have  to  begin 
at  the  very  bottom  of  the  ladder  and  mount  upward 
again.  It  is  slow  work,  so  slow  that  it  tries  every 
quality  of  true  manhood  to  its  utmost.  The  daily  life 
of  the  dwellers  in  the  great  city  makes  them  keen, 
shrewd  judges  of  human  nature,  and  they  are  pro- 
ficients in  the  art  of  studying  character. 

It  is  said  that  New  York  is  the  wickedest  city  in  the 
country.  It  is  the  largest,  and  vice  thrives  in  crowded 
communities.  How  great  this  wickedness  is  we  may 
see  in  the  subsequent  portions  of  this  work.  Yet,  if  it 
is  the  wickedest  city,  it  is  also  the  best  on  the  Conti- 
nent. If  it  contains  thousands  of  the  worst  men  and 
women  in  our  land,  it  contains  also  thousands  of  the 
brightest  and  best  of  Christians.  In  point  of  morality, 
it  will  compare  favorably  with  any  city  in  the  world. 
It  is  unhappily  true  that  the  devil's  work  is  done  here 
upon  a  large  scale ;  but  so  is  the  work  of  God,  upon 
an  even  greater  scale.  If  the  city  contains  the  gaudi- 
est, the  most  alluring,  and  the  vilest  haunts  of  sin,  it 
also  boasts  the  noblest  and  grandest  institutions  of 
religion,  of  charity,  and  virtue.    Being  the  great  centre 


GO 


NEW  YORK. 


of  wealth  and  culture,  New  York  is  also  the  centre  of 
everything  that  is  good  and  beautiful  in  life. 

In  its  charities,  New  York  is,  as  in  other  respects, 
the  leading  city  of  the  Continent.  It  maintains  its  own 
charitable  and  benevolent  institutions  with  a  liberality, 
and  upon  a  scale  of  magnificence  and  comfort, 
unequaled  in  other  parts  of  the  country.  It  spends 
millions  to  relieve  suffering  and  disease  within  its  own 
limits,  andat  the  same  time  lends  an  open  ear  and  a  ready 
hand  to  the  cry  of  distress  from  other  quarters.  There 
is  no  portion  of  the  globe  to  which  the  charity  of  New 
York  does  not  extend  ;  and  when  it  gives,  it  gives  lib- 
erally. When  the  yellow  fever  laid  its  heavy  hand 
upon  the  Southern  States  during  the  summer  of  1878, 
it  was  to  New  York  that  the  sufferers  first  turned  for 
aid;  and  the  Metropolis  responded  nobly.  In  the 
course  of  a  few  months  assistance  in  money  and  sup- 
plies was  sent  to  the  amount  of  several  hundred  thous- 
and dollars.  During  the  recent  war  between  Russia 
and  Turkey,  New  York,  with  characteristic  liberality, 
sent  generous  assistance  to  the  sick  and  wounded  of 
both  armies.  When  Chicago  was  burned,  the  people 
of  New  York  literally  showered  relief  upon  the  afflicted 
citizens  of  the  western  Metropolis.  It  is  enough  for 
the  great  city  to  hear  the  cry  of  distress,  no  matter 
from  what  quarter ;  its  action  is  prompt  and  generous. 
The  city  authorities  annually  expend  one  million  of 
dollars  in  public  charities,  while  the  various  religious 
denominations  and  charitable  associations  expend  annu- 
ally about  five  millions  more.  No  record  can  be  had 
of  private  charities — but  they  are  large.  This  is  the 
charity  that  begins  at  home.    Of  the  aid  sent  to  suffer- 


CHANGES  IN  POPULATION. 


65 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  GROWTH  OF  NEW  YORK. 


RAPID  GROWTH  OF  NEW  YORK  DURING  THE  PAST  THIRTY-FIVE  YEARS— THE  FLUSH  TIMES  AFTER 
THE  WAR— EFFECTS  OF  THE  PANIC  OF  1873— A  MOMENTARY  CHECK — RETURN  OF  PROS- 
PERITY— PROSPECTS  FOR  THE  FUTURE — INCREASE  IN  BUILDING  OPERATIONS — HOW  REAL 
ESTATE  APPRECIATES  IN  VALUE— THE  SECRET  OF  THE  GREAT  INCREASE  OF  WEALTH  IN  NEW 
YORK — FUTURE  CENTRES  OF  POPULATION — WHAT  NEW  YORK  WILL  BE  FIFTY  YEARS  HENCE — 
A  GRAND  DESTINY. 


We  have  already  given  the  population  of  the  me- 
tropolis according  to  the  last  three  censuses,  but  before 
passing  on,  it  will  be  interesting  to  glance  at  the  growth 
of  the  city  for  the  last  thirty-five  years.  The  United 
States  Census  is  taken  every  ten  years,  and  shows  a 
marked  change  in  every  decade ;  but  the  State  Census, 
which  is  taken  every  five  years,  enables  us  to  obtain 
a  view  of  the  movement  of  the  city's  population  at 
shorter  intervals.  From  it  we  learn  that,  notwith- 
standing the  phenomenal  growth  of  New  York,  there 
was  a  period,  covering  the  duration  of  our  civil  war, 
when  the  metropolis,  instead  of  increasing,  actually  de- 
clined in  population.  The  returns  since  the  year  1845, 
record  the  population  as  follows : 


In  1845, 
In  1850, 
In  1855, 
In  i860, 
In  1865, 
In  1870, 
In  1875, 
In  1880, 


371,223 

5I5»547 
629,810 
813,669 
726,386 
942,292 
1,064,272 
1,209,561 


70 


NEW  YORK. 


My  motive  for  so  leaving  this  property,  is  a  firm  per- 
suasion that  it  may,  at  no  distant  date,  be  the  site  of  a 
village,  and  as  it  cost  me  much  more  than  its  present 
worth,  from  circumstances  known  to  my  family,  I  like 
to  cherish  the  belief  it  may  be  realized  to  them.  At  all 
events,  I  want  the  experiment  made,  by  keeping  the 
property  from  being  sold.' 

"  Under  the  second  date  on  the  will — namely,  June 
23d,  1832 — the  foregoing  bequest  is  thus  modified: — 

"  1  Whereas,  in  my  said  will  I  have  left  my  farm,  situ- 
ate in  the  Twelfth  (formerly  Ninth)  ward  of  the  city  of 
New  York,  near  the  five-mile  stone,  to  my  son,  James 
Lennox,  for  and  during  the  term  of  his  natural  life,  and 
after  his  death  to  his  heirs,  forever ;  now  I  do  hereby 
give  and  devise  the  said  farm  to  my  said  son,  James 
Lennox,  and  to  his  heirs,  forever.  At  the  same  time, 
I  wish  him  to  understand  that  my  opinion  respecting 
the  property  is  not  changed,  and  though  I  withdraw 
all  legal  restrictions  to  his  making  sale  of  the  whole  or 
part  of  the  same,  yet  I  enforce  on  him  my  advice  not  to 
do  so.' 

"  A  wise  man  in  his  generation  was  Robert  Lennox. 
The  farm  at  the  five-mile  stone  originally  cost  the  tes- 
tator somewhere  in  the  neighborhood  of  $40,000. 
Early  in  1864,  Mr.  James  Lennox,  the  fortunate  legatee 
under  the  will  quoted  from,  of  the  now  historic  farm, 
conveyed  to  his  nephew,  Robert  Lennox  Kennedy, 
the  whole  block  between  7 2d  and  73d  streets,  Madi- 
ison  and  Fifth  avenues — a  block  204  feet  4  inches 
in  width  on  Fifth  and  Madison  avenues  and  420  feet 
in  length  on  each  street  named.  The  consideration 
paid   for   this   slice  out  of  the  golden  farm  was 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LENNOX  FARM. 


71 


$250,000.  To  Clarence  S.  Brown,  on  December  nth, 
1866,  Mr.  Kennedy,  for  $240,000,  disposed  of  twenty 
lots  on  this  block,  comprising  the  whole  front  on  7 2d 
street,  between  Fifth  and  Madison  avenues,  and  the 
plot  120  feet  2  inches  by  100  feet,  on  the  southwest 
corner  of  73d  street  and  Madison  avenue.  But  four 
years  had  elapsed  when  Clarence  Brown  disposed  of 
these  identical  lots  to  John  Crosby  Brown  for  $430,000. 

"  Not  to  enter  into  further  detail,"  said  the  gentleman 
who  had  furnished  these  particulars,  "  I  may  first  add, 
that  in  1875  tne  farm  at  the  five-mile  stone  was  valued  at 
$9,000,000,  without  a  building  upon  it.  To-day  I  judge 
that  the  lot  on  the  corner  of  7 2d  street  and  Fifth  avenue, 
27  feet  by  100,  would  fetch  in  the  open  market  in  the 
neighborhood  of  $100,000,  being  more  than  twice  as 
much  as  the  shrewd  old  Scotchman  paid  for  the  whole 
thirty  acres.  At  the  present  time  the  whole  estate  is 
probably  worth  $1 2,000,000.  Many  brokers  have  con- 
curred in  the  correctness  of  these  views.  Hall  J.  How 
said  to  me,  only  yesterday,  'Why,  Amos  Clark,  of 
Boston,  owns  the  lot  on  7 2d  street  and  Fifth  avenue, 
and  he  would  not  sell  it  for  $100,000/ 

"The  late  John  D.  Phillips  was  hardly  so  wise  as  the 
owner  of 'the  farm  at  the  five-mile  stone.'  On  the  2d 
of  June,  1 85 1,  he  purchased  of  Peter  McLaughlin  the 
lot  on  the  southeast  corner  of  84th  street  and  Fifth 
avenue  for  $540.  Tempted  by  the  rapid  rise  in  the 
value  of  the  property,  Mr.  Phillips  sold  this  lot  to 
Stephen  Roberts  on  the  18th  day  of  August,  1853,  for 
$1900.  On  Thursday  last  this  identical  property  was 
purchased  by  George  Kemp  for  $40,000.  I  wonder 
if  it  ever  occurs  to  capitalists  that,  in  the  long  run,  more 


88 


NEW  YORK. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  HARBOR  OF  NEW  YORK. 

NATURAL  ADVANTAOFS  OF  THE  HARBOR— THE  OUTER  AND  INNER  BAYS— EXCURSIONS— A  TRIP 

DOWN  THE  HAKIiOK — SCENES  ALONG  THE  ROUTE  THE  SHIPPING — THROUGH  THE  INNER  BAY 

— GOVERNOR'S  ISLAND — BEDLOe'S  AND  ELLIS*  ISLANDS — BARTHOLDl's  STATUE — LIBERTY 
ENLIGHTENING  THE  WORLD— THE  KILL  VAN  KULL — STATEN  ISLAND — THE  NARROWS— THE 
FORTIFICATIONS — THE  OUTER  BAY — QUARANTINE— CONEY  ISLAND — SCENES  IN  THE  LOWER 
BAY— SANDY  HOOK — OUT  TO  SEA— BACK  TO  NEW  YORK. 

The  Harbor  of  New  York  is  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful sheets  of  water  in  the  world.  It  consists  of  an  In- 
ner and  an  Outer  Bay,  connected  by  the  strait  known 
as  "The  Narrows."  Between  them  lie  Staten  and 
Long  Islands,  two  natural  barriers  which  render  the 
Inner  Bay  one  of  the  safest  of  snug  harbors.  The 
Outer  Bay,  though  less  sheltered  than  the  Inner,  affords 
safe  and  commodious  anchorage  for  the  fleets  of  the 
world. 

In  the  summer  and  early  fall  steamers  make  daily 
trips  from  the  city  to  the  ocean  and  back,  and  carry 
thousands  of  passengers  bent  on  enjoying  the  sea  breeze 
and  the  glorious  scenery  of  the  harbor.  We  invite  the 
reader  to  take  passage  with  us  on  one  of  these. 

We  start  from  one  of  the  up-town  piers  on  the  North 
River  side,  and  make  several  landings  between  our 
point  of  departure  and  the  Battery,  at  each  of  which 
we  add  largely  to  our  cargo  of  human  freight.  The 
steamer  glides  swiftly  along  the  city  front,  by  the 
hundreds  of  vessels  lying  at  the  piers  and  anchored  in 
the  stream.  Here,  moored  to  their  piers,  each  of  which 
is  covered  by  an  enormous  wooden  shed,  are  the  great 
European  steamships.    You  may  tell  them  by  the  color 


HARBOR  SCENES. 


89 


of  and  the  marks  upon  their  smoke  stacks.  Two  or 
three  are  anchored  in  the  river,  having  just  come  in 
from  the  ocean  voyage,  and  are  still  dingy  and  dirty 
with  the  smoke  and  grime  of  travel.  Further  down 
are  the  steamers  plying  between  New  York  and  Ameri- 
can ports,  the  floating  palaces  of  the  Hudson  and  Long 
Island  Sound,  and  numbers  of  river  craft.  The  huge 
ferry  boats,  black  with  passengers,  cross  and  recross 
our  track,  and  it  requires  not  a  little  skill  on  the  part 
of  our  steersman  to  keep  safely  out  of  their  way.  Tugs 
are  puffing  by  us  with  heavily  laden  vessels,  or  vessels 
in  ballast,  guiding  them  skillfully  along  their  course. 
The  flags  of  all  the  countries  of  the  world  are  floating 
out  from  ship  and  shore,  and  the  river  presents  a  gay 
and  animated  scene.  On  the  opposite  side  is  Jersey 
City,  the  most  conspicuous  objects  of  the  shore  line 
being  the  great  ferry  houses  which  mark  the  depots  of 
the  various  railway  lines  leading  south  and  west  from 
New  York.  In  the  not  distant  future  the  tunnel  now 
in  construction  under  the  Hudson  will  connect  New 
Jersey  with  New  York,  and  the  railways  will  enter  the 
city  by  means  of  it. 

The  last  landing  has  been  made,  and  our  steamer 
now  turns  her  head  toward  the  Inner  Bay.  Just  off  the 
Battery  we  pass  a  fine  frigate  and  a  monitor,  fly- 
ing the  national  flag,  and  near  them  notice  several 
foreign  men  of  war  riding  at  their  anchors.  From  thi 
steamer's  deck  the  lower  end  of  the  city  and  the  spires 
and  towers  that  rise  from  it  make  a  pleasing  picture, 
while  across  the  East  River  is  Brooklyn,  its  heights 
crowned  with  stately  mansions,  and  between  the  two 
cities  swings  the  great  bridge  that  is  to  connect  them. 


92 


NEW  YORK. 


pedestal  of  the  figure,  which  will  rise  high  above  any 
other  object  in  the  immediate  neighborhood. 

"  Allowing  twenty  feet  for  the  height  of  the  island 
above  the  water,  the  pedestal  is  to  be  one  hundred  and 
ten  feet  high,  and  the  statue,  to  the  flame  of  the  torch, 
one  hundred  and  forty-five.  This  makes  the  torch  at 
least  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  Bay.  It  will  equal  in  height  the  column  of  the 
Place  Vendome,  at  Paris,  and  will  be  larger  than  the 
Collossus  at  Rhodes,  so  much  celebrated  by  antiquity. 
Like  that  statue,  it  will  have  to  be  cast  in  pieces  of  man- 
ageable size,  and  built  up,  much  after  the  manner  of  an 
armored  frigate.  The  construction  will  be  a  curious 
piece  of  engineering  skill.  At  night  it  is  proposed  that 
a  halo  of  jets  of  light  shall  radiate  from  the  temples  of 
the  enormous  goddess,  and  perhaps  the  flame  of  the 
torch  may  be  fashioned  in  crystal,  in  order  that  it  may 
catch  the  light  of  the  sun  by  day,  and  at  night  form  a 
glowing  object  illuminated  by  electricity. 

"  In  respect  to  the  pose  of  the  statue,  that  has  been 
calculated  with  care.  A  Liberty  would  have  to  be 
draped,  even  if  a  draped  statue  were  not  advisable,  in 
a  climate  as  cold  as  ours,  where  nude  figures  suggest 
extreme  discomfort.  But  M.  Bartholdi  has  also  used 
his  drapery  to  give  a  tower-like  and  therefore  solid 
look  to  the  lofty  woman,  without  forgetting  the  neces- 
sity for  variety  in  the  upward  lines.     *     *     *  * 

"  She  will  stand  so  as  to  suggest  that  the  strongest 
hurricane  could  never  budge  her  from  the  pedestal 
she  has  chosen.  Her  gesture  is  meant  to  call  the 
attention  of  the  most  distant  person,  and,  moreover, 
to   let   him    know    unmistakably   what   the  figure 


104 


NEW  YORK. 


CHAPTER  V. 

SANDY  HOOK. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  "  THE  HOOK  " — A  NOTED  LANDMARK — A  SANDY  WASTE — THE  COVE — THE  BEACH 
— THE  LIGHT-SHIPS — THE  LIFE  SAVING  STATION — SANDY  HOOK  LIGHTHOUSE — ITS  HISTORY 
— THE  KEEPER'S  HOUSE — WRECKS — IN  THE  LIGHT»TOWER — A  GRAND  VIEW — OCEAN  CEME- 
TERY— THE  FORTIFICATIONS — TESTING  THE  HEAVY  GUNS — THE  NORTH  LIGHT — THE  SYRENS 
— THE  TELEGRAPH  STATION. 

Nineteen  miles  seaward  from  New  York,  on  the 
western  side  of  the  Bay,  is  a  narrow  strip  of  white 
sand,  projecting  northward  into  the  bright  waters. 
Seen  from  a  steamer's  deck  on  a  clear  day  it  gleams 
like  a  streak  of  polished  silver;  but  when  the  skies  are 
dull  and  gray,  or  overhung  with  clouds,  it  lies  leaden 
and  dead  in  the  half  light.  This  is  Sandy  Hook,  a  long, 
low,  sandy  peninsular  of  drift  formation,  the  continua- 
tion of  a  sand  reef  skirting  the  New  Jersey  coast.  It 
projects  northward  five  miles  into  the  Lower  Bay  of 
New  York,  and  forms  the  eastern  breakwater  of  Sandy 
Hook  Bay.  In  width  it  varies  from  fifty  yards  at  the 
Neck,  near  Highlands  Bridge,  where  jetties  of  brush- 
wood form  but  a  frail  protection  against  easterly 
storms,  to  a  full  mile  at  the  point  where  the  main  light 
is  located. 

Many  an  eye  has  watched  this  strip  of  sand  sadly  as 
some  outgoing  steamer  turned  its  head  to  the  sea  and 
began  its  long  way  across  the  Atlantic ;  and  many  a 
heart  has  beat  more  quickly  as  it  came  plainly  into 
view,  the  homeward  voyage  over,  for  beyond  it  lie  the 
bright  waters  and  the  smiling  shores  of  home. 


SANDY  HOOK  LIGHT-SHIPS. 


105 


A  pleasant  and  profitable  afternoon  may  be  spent  in 
a  visit  to  this  interesting  spot.  Taking  the  Long 
Branch  steamer,  we  are  carried  swiftly  down  the  Inner 
Bay,  through  the  Narrows,  and  out  upon  the  broad 
bosom  of  the  Lower  Bay,  which  is  finally  left  to  the 
eastward,  and  our  steamer  passing  into  the  calmer 
waters  of  Sandy  Hook  Bay,  or,  as  it  is  more  commonly 
called,  "  the  Cove,"  lands  us  at  the  wharf  of  the  New 
Jersey  Southern  Railway.  Once  on  shore,  we  see  a 
waste  of  sand  all  around  us,  covered  thickly  in  parts 
with  cedars  and  a  scrub  undergrowth,  with  clear  patches 
of  shining  white  here  and  there,  and  at  intervals  are  a 
number  of  buildings  which  are  used  for  various  pur- 
poses. Leaving  the  railroad,  we  take  our  way  over 
the  sands  towards  the  point  of  the  Hook,  and  soon 
reach  the  bright  and  shining  beach.  At  our  feet  the 
breakers  roll  in  lazily  with  a  monotonous  plash  as  they 
waste  themselves  on  the  shore.  Far  away  stretches 
the  blue  Atlantic,  calm  and  fair  to  look  upon  now,  but 
terrible  at  times.  When  the  fierce  gales  of  winter 
sweep  down  upon  the  coast,  the  surf  comes  rolling  in 
"mountain  high,"  and  dashes  upon  the  beach  with  a 
wild,  angry  roar,  never  to  be  forgotten  by  those  who 
have  listened  to  it.  About  a  mile  and  a  half  to  the 
eastward  is  the  Scotland  Light-ship,  rocking  lazily  upon 
the  placid  sea,  and  six  miles  further  east  the  Sandy 
Hook  Light-ship  is  seen  rising  and  falling  with  the  long, 
regular  heave  of  the  ocean.  The  latter  ship  marks 
the  point  from  which  all  vessels  bound  for  New  York 
shape  their  course  for  the  Lower  Bay,  and  from  which 
the  European  steamers  begin  to  reckon  their  voyages  to 
the  Old  World.    It  is  painted  red,  and  carries  two  fixed 


118 


NEW  YORK. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CITY  GOVERNMENT — THE  MAYOR  AND  BOARD  OF  ALDERMEN — THE  COM' 
MISSIONEItS — DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  VARIOUS  MUNICIPAL  DEPARTMENTS — POWERS  OF  OFFI- 
CIALS— THE  COURTS  POLICE  JUSTICES — THE  MEN  BY  WHOM  NEW  YORK  IS  GOVERNED — RESPON. 

SIBILITY  OF  THE  BETTER  CLASSES  FROM  THE  GROG  SHOP  TO  CIVIL  POWER — WHO  THE  LEAD- 
ERS ARE — THE  "  BOSS" — THE  RING  HOW  BOSS  TWEED  MAINTAINED  HIS  POWER — SPASMODIC 

EFFORTS  AT  REFORM— MULHOOLYISM  IN  NEW  YORK — AN  INSIDE  VIEW  OF  MUNICIPAL  POLITICS 

— THE  SLAVE  OF  THE  RING  LOOKING  OUT  FOR  THE  "  BOYS  " — THE  INTERESTS  OF  THE  CITY 

NEGLECTED — THE  POPULAR  WILL  DEFIED  BY  THE  RING. 

The  City  of  New  York  is  governed  by  a  Mayor  and 
a  Board  of  twenty-two  Aldermen,  with  various  Boards 
of  Commissioners.  It  is  divided  into  twenty-four 
wards  and  557  election  districts,  and  constitutes  the 
First  Judicial  District  of  the  State.  It  sends  5  Senators 
and  21  Assemblymen  to  the  State  Legislature,  and  7 
Representatives  to  Congress.  The  Mayor  is  elected 
by  the  vote  of  the  people  for  a  term  of  two  years,  and 
receives  a  salary  of  $12,000  per  annum.  The  Alder- 
men are  chosen  annually  by  the  popular  vote,  and 
receive  each  an  annual  salary  of  $4000,  except  the 
President  of  the  Board,  who  is  paid  $5000.  44  Six  are 
elected  by  the  voters  of  the  city  at  large  (no  one  being 
permitted  to  vote  for  more  than  four  candidates),  and 
three  from  each  of  the  four  lower  Senate  districts  (no 
one  being  permitted  to  vote  for  more  than  two).  The 
upper  Senate  district  with  the  23d  and  24th  wards  elects 
four  Aldermen  (no  one  being  permitted  to  vote  for 
more  than  three)." 

The  Mayor  appoints  the  Commissioners  and  heads 
of  departments,  with  the  consent  of  the  Board  of  Alder- 


BOARDS  OF  FINANCE  AND  TAXES. 


119 


men.  These  hold  office  for  periods  varying-  from  three 
to  six  years,  and  receive  salaries  ranging  from  $3000 
to  $15,000  a  year. 

The  principal  department  under  the  City  Govern- 
ment is  that  of  Finance.  It  has  charge  of  all  the  fiscal 
affairs  of  the  corporation,  and  is  presided  over  by  the 
Comptroller,  who  receives  a  salary  of  $10,000  per 
annum,  and  occupies  the  most  important  position,  from 
a  political  point  of  view,  in  the  city.  He  is  generally 
the  "Boss"  of  New  York  politics,  and  wields  his  power 
in  a  despotic  manner.  Next  in  importance  is  the  City 
Chamberlain  or  Treasurer.  He  is  appointed  by  the 
Mayor,  and  is  confirmed  by  the  Board  of  Aldermen. 
He  receives  a  salary  of  $30,000,  but  out  of  this  has  to 
pay  his  office  expenses,  clerk  hire,  etc. 

The  Department  of  Taxes  and  Assessments  ranks 
next  in  importance.  It  consists  of  three  Commis- 
sioners, appointed  by  the  Mayor  and  confirmed  by  the 
Board  of  Aldermen.  They  hold  office  for  six  years, 
and  one  of  them  is  President  of  the  Board.  The 
President  receives  $6500  a  year;  the  others  $5000. 
This  Board  fixes  the  rate  of  taxation  upon  real  and 
personal  property,  and  collects  the  taxes  due  the  city. 
The  Mayor,  Comptroller,  President  of  the  Board  of 
Aldermen,  and  President  of  the  Department  of  Taxes, 
constitute  a  Board  of  Apportionment,  which  fixes  the 
amount  to  be  raised  each  year  by  taxation.  This  Board 
also  decides  how  much  shall  be  spent  by  the  City  Gov- 
ernment, and  all  appropriations  for  any  branch  of  that 
government  must  receive  its  approval.  It  is  thus  really 
in  possession  of  powers  superior  to  those  of  the  Board 
of  Aldermen,  and  constitutes  a  check  upon  that  body. 


134 


NEW  YORK. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

BROADWAY. 

EARLY  HISTORY  OF  BROADWAY — UNDER  THE  DUTCH  AND  ENGLISH  RULE — PRIMITIVE  NAME  OF 
THE  STREET — IT  COMMENCES  TO  GROW — THE  GREAT  FIRE  OF  I776— THE  BROADWAY  OF  TO- 
DAY— APPEARANCE  OF  THE  STREET — A  STROLL  ON  BROADWAY — THE  LOWER  STREET — 
TRINITY  CHURCH — THE  INSURANCE  COMPANIES — THE  TELEGRAPH  WIRES — MAGNIFICENT 
BUILDINGS — SCENE  FROM  THE  POST-OFFICE — A  BROADWAY  JAM — LOWER  BROADWAY  BY 
NIGHT — CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  VARIOUS  PORTIONS  OF  THE  STREET — VIEW  FROM  CANAL 
STREET — THE  HOTELS — AMONG  THE  PUBLISHERS — "  STEWART'S  " — GRACE  CHURCH — 
BROADWAY  AT  UNION  SQUARE — THE  NARROWEST  PART — MADISON  SQUARE — A  GRAND  SIGHT — 
UPPER    BROADWAY — A    STREET    OF    MARBLE — THE   GREAT    HOTELS — THE    CENTRAL  PARK 

REACHED — STREET  CARS  AND  OMNIBUSES  THE  NIGHT  LIFE  OF  BROADWAY  SCENES  ON  THE 

STREET — THE  STREET  WALKERS — THE  ELECTRIC  LIGHT — THE  MIDNIGHT  HOUR — BUSINESS 
ON  BROADWAY. 

To  the  dweller  in  New  York,  Broadway  is  what  the 
Boulevards  are  to  the  Parisian.  It  is  the  centre  of 
life,  gayety,  and  business;  the  great  artery  through 
which  flows  the  strong  life-current  of  the  metropolis. 
From  the  Bowling  Green  to  the  Central  Park,  a  dis- 
tance of  five  miles,  it  is  lined  with  stately  edifices  and 
thronged  with  an  endless  crowd  of  busy  workers,  rest- 
less pleasure-seekers,  the  good  and  the  bad,  the  grave 
and  the  gay,  all  hurrying  on  in  eager  pursuit  of  the 
objects  before  them.  To  the  stranger  it  is  the  great 
"  show  street"  of  the  city,  and  certainly  no  more  won- 
derful sight  can  be  witnessed  than  this  grand  thor- 
oughfare at  high  noon. 

The  history  of  the  street  is  the  history  of  the  city. 
It  has  grown  steadily  with  it,  shared  its  vicissitudes 
and  good  fortune,  and,  like  a  true  mirror,  has  reflected 
every  phase  of  the  wonderful  progress  of  New  York. 

Broadway  was  laid  out  as  a  street  by  the  original 


BROADWAY  IN  OLD  TIMES. 


135 


Dutch  settlers  of  New  Amsterdam,  and  was  called  by 
them  the  "  Heere  Straas,"  or  "  High  Street."  In  the 
days  of  the  Dutch  colony  it  was  lined,  especially  on 
the  east  side,  with  rows  of  pleasant  mansions,  the  gar- 
dens of  which  ran  back  to  the  marsh,  on  the  present 
site  of  Broad  street.  Under  the  Dutch  rule  it  was  ex- 
tended to  Wall  street,  where  the  city  wall  terminated 
it ;  and  beyond  this  were  pleasant  fields  and  pastures, 
where  the  portly  "  mynheers  "  turned  out  their  cows  to 
graze,  and  dreamily  smoked  their  pipes  under  the 
wide-spreading  trees. 

When  the  English  came  into  possession  of  the  city, 
and  changed  its  name  to  New  York,  Broadway  took  a 
step  forward.  The  character  of  the  buildings  was  im- 
proved, and  Bowling  Green  became  the  centre  of  a 
thickly  settled  and  fashionable  district.  Mr.  Archibald 
Kennedy,  His  Majesty's  Collector  of  the  Port  of  New 
York,  built  the  house  now  known  as  No.  i  Broadway, 
a  stately  mansion  in  its  day,  and  at  one  time  the  head- 
quarters of  the  British  General  Sir  Henry  Clinton. 
The  great  fire  of  1776  greatly  damaged  the  street,  but 
it  was  afterwards  rebuilt  in  a  more  substantial  manner. 
By  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Broadway 
had  advanced  from  the  Old  Dutch  Wall  to  a  point  above 
the  present  City  Hall  Park,  and  by  181 8  it  was  built  up 
beyond  Duane  street.  In  1830  it  had  passed  Canal 
street,  and  the  portion  between  Chambers  and  Canal 
streets  was  the  fashionable  shopping  quarter  of  the 
city.  By  1 832  it  had  reached  Union  Square, and  by  1841 
had  been  extended  to  Madison  square.  Since  that  year 
the  growth  of  the  street  to  the  Central  Park  has  been 
steady  and  rapid.    Year  after  year  its  various  portions 


13G  NEW  YORK.  . 

have  changed  their  character.  Business  has  steadily 
driven  out  the  residences,  until  now  along  the  whole 
distance  of  five  miles  there  is  scarcely  a  dwelling  house 
proper  left. 

The  first  thing  that  strikes  the  stranger  in  looking 


BROADWAY,  LOOKING    NORTH    FROM    EXCHANGE  PLACE. 


at  Broadway,  is  its  narrowness.  The  early  citizens 
never  dreamed  of  the  future  greatness  of  their  favorite 
thoroughfare,  and  laid  off  a  street  with  an  average 
width  of  sixty  feet.    For  many  years  past,  numerous 


A  BROADWAY  JAM. 


143 


to  cross  Broadway,  at  times,  at  this  spot,  one  must 
needs  be  a  sort  of  animated  billiard-ball,  with  power 
to  carom  from  wheel  to  wheel  until  he  can  safely 
'pocket'  his  personal  corporacity  on  the  opposite  walk. 
The  crush  of  vehicles  here  is  sometimes  so  great  as  to 
delay  movement  for  ten  minutes  or  more,  and  it  re- 
quires the  greatest  energy  on  the  part  of  the  police  to 
disentangle  the  dense,  chaotic  mass  and  set  it  in  pro- 
gress again.  For  those  who  are  not  obliged  to  cross 
the  choked-up  thoroughfare,  the  scene  is  full  of  a  brief 
amusement — hack-drivers,  truckmen,  omnibus  drivers, 
swearing  vehemently  at  each  other,  or  interchanging 
all  kinds  of  1  chaff' ;  passengers  indignantly  railing  at 
the  delay,  and  police  officers  yelling  and  waving  their 
clubs  in  their  attempts  to  get  the  machinery  of  travel 
again  running  smoothly.  If,  at  such  a  time,  a  fire- 
engine  comes  rattling  up  the  street,  post-haste  for  the 
scene  of  a  fire,  and  attempts  to  enforce  its  right  of  way, 
the  confusion  becomes  doubly  confounded,  and  the 
scene  a  veritable  pandemonium.  Ordinarily,  however* 
such  tangles  of  traffic  do  not  occur,  for  this  locality  is 
fully  supplied  with  policemen,  whose  main  business  is 
to  facilitate  the  passage  of  travel  and  prevent  such  a 
blockade  as  we  have  described. 

"The  outlook  down  Broadway  from  the  Post  Office 
is  in  all  respects  picturesque  and  impressive,  and  fills 
the  mind  with  a  vivid  sense  of  the  immense  activity  of 
New  York  life.  In  the  distance  the  towers  of  Trinity 
Church  and  the  Equitable  Life  Insurance  Building 
lift  themselves  as  landmarks,  and  noble  buildings 
thickly  studding  the  squares  between  the  New  York 
Evening  Post  Buildingand  the  Western  Union  Telegraph 


THE  FINEST  VIEW  IN  NEW  YORK. 


151 


west,  lined  with  stately  buildings.  On  the  right  is 
Madison  Square,  the  handsomest  of  all  the  smaller 
parks,  beautifully  shaded  with  noble  trees,  and  adorned 
with  shrubbery,  fountains  and  statuary.  On  the  east 
side  of  the  Square  is  Madison  avenue,  one  of  the 
stateliest  and  most  fashionable  streets  of  the  metropolis. 
The  Fifth  avenue  leads  away  to  the  northward,  a  splen- 
did mass  of  brownstone  buildings,  broken  at  intervals 
by  numerous  church  spires.  To  the  northwest  is 
Broadway,  lined  with  superb  marble  edifices  as  far  as 
the  eye  can  reach.  The  throng  of  vehicles  and  pedes- 
trians is  very  great  here,  coming  and  going  in  all 
directions,  and  all  the  streets  which  centre  here  pre- 
sent a  gay  and  animated  appearance,  and  the  whole 
scene  constitutes  a  panorama  unequaled  by  anything 
in  any  of  the  great  capitals  of  the  Old  World. 

Crossing  23d  street  and  Fifth  avenue  at  the  same 
time,  we  come  to  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel.  This 
immense  building  occupies  an  entire  square,  from  2/d 
to  24th  streets,  and  fronts  on  both  Fifth  avenue  and 
Broadway.  It  is  built  of  white  marble,  and  is  six  stories 
in  height.  The  block  from  24th  to  25th  streets  is  occu- 
pied by  the  Albemarle  and  Hoffman  Houses,  in  the 
order  named.  Both  are  of  white  marble.  Immediately 
opposite,  at  the  intersection  of  Broadway  and  Fifth 
avenue,  is  a  handsome  granite  monument,  erected  to 
the  memory  of  General  W.  J.  Worth,  a  gallant  soldier 
of  the  Seminole  and  Mexican  wars.  Facing  this  is  the 
New  York  Club  House,  a  tasteful  red  brick  building, 
fronting  on  Broadway  and  Fifth  avenue.  Above  this, 
and  also  fronting  on  both  streets,  is  the  famous  restau- 
rant of  Delmonico.    At  the  southwest  corner  of  26th 


THE  STAGE  ROUTES.  157 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  BROADWAY  STAGES. 

POPULARITY  OP  THIS  MODE  OF  CONVEYANCE — A  CHEAP  PLEASURE — DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  VARI- 
OUS LINES — THE  STAGES  AS  REGARDS  COMFORT — THE  OUTSIDE  SEATS — "KNOCKING  DOWN 
IN  BY-GONE  DAYS" — THE  PATENT  CASH  BOX  SYSTEM — THE  44  SPOTTERS  " — A  NIGHT  RIDE 
WITH  JEHU — THE  44  BOSS  "  ON  THE  WATCH — MYSTERIOUS  SIGNALS — SKILL  OF   THE  STAGE 

DRIVERS — A  STAGE  DRIVER  PHOTOGRAPHED  SUFFERINGS  OF  THE  DRIVERS — UPS  AND  DOWNS 

OF  THE  CRAFT — THE  MUTUAL  BENEFIT  ASSOCIATION. 

In  spite  of  the  success  of  the  elevated  railways, 
and  of  the  large  number  of  passengers  carried  by  the 
street  car  lines,  the  stages  or  omnibuses  still  manage 
to  hold  their  own.  Until  a  year  or  two  ago  the  fare  on 
all  the  lines  was  ten  cents,  but  since  the  completion  of 
the  elevated  railways  it  has  been  reduced  to  five  cents. 
The  low  fares  and  the  fact  that,  except  for  a  short 
distance  on  upper  Broadway,  the  stages  pursue  routes 
free  from  the  presence  and  competition  of  the  street  cars, 
enable  them  still  to  command  a  very  large  share  of  the 
street  travel  of  the  city.  In  Broadway,  below  Union 
Square,  and  in  Fifth  and  Madison  avenues,  they  are 
the  sole  dependence  of  those  who  wish  to  ride  cheaply 
along  those  thoroughfares.  The  principal  lines  now 
are  as  follows: — 

The  Broadway  and  Fifth  Avenue,  starting  from  the 
Fulton  Ferry,  on  the  East  River,  passing  up  Fulton 
street  to  Broadway,  along  which  it  continues  to  23d 
street,  where  it  enters  Fifth  avenue,  and  follows  that 
thoroughfare  as  far  as  the  Windsor  Hotel. 

The  Broadway,  Twenty-third  Street  and  Ninth 
Avenue,  running  along  Broadway  from  the  South 


KNOCKING  DOWN. 


159 


sum  to  his  own  use.  This  led  him  to  be  veiy  zealous 
in  picking  up  passengers,  for  the  larger  the  receipts 
the  greater  his  chance  of  "  knocking  down  "  without 
detection.  It  was  in  those  days  a  well-established  fact 
that  those  who  were  the  most  skillful  in  helping  them- 
selves always  made  the  largest  returns  to  the  office. 

Now,  however,  each  coach  is  provided  with  the 
Slawson  patent  cash-box,  which  is  placed  inside,  at  the 
front  end  of  the  vehicle.  As  he  starts  on  his  rounds 
the  driver  is  furnished  with  little  envelopes  containing 
various  sums,  ranging  from  ten  cents  to  two  dollars. 
Each  envelope  contains  a  stage  ticket  and  the  balance 
of  the  amount,  whatever  it  may  be,  in  money.  Passen- 
gers entering  the  coach,  if  they  have  the  amount  in 
change,  deposit  it  in  the  Slawson  box,  which  is  so  placed 
that  the  driver  can  see  whether  the  correct  fare  is  paid  or 
not.  If  change  is  desired,  the  money  is  handed  to  the 
driver  through  a  hole  in  the  roof  in  the  rear  of  his  seat, 
and  he  returns  an  envelope  containing  a  ticket  and  the 
remainder  of  the  sum  given  him  in  change.  The  ticket 
is  then  deposited  in  the  cash  box  by  the  passenger.  As 
he  must  return  the  envelopes  given  him  at  starting,  or 
their  equivalent  in  money,  the  driver  has  no  opportun- 
ity of  "knocking  down."  His  only  opportunity  for 
practicing  the  old  game  lies  in  the  fares  paid  him  by 
the  outside  riders,  who  cannot  make  use  of  the  cash  box. 
This  has  its  risks,  however,  for  he  is  closely  watched, 
and  the  number  of  "  outsiders  "  is  carefully  counted  by 
"  spotters  "  or  spies  placed  along  the  route  by  the  pro- 
prietor. Sometimes  the  "  boss  "  takes  this  office  upon 
himself,  to  the  great  disgust  of  the  driver. 

One  night,  not  long  since,  a  Fifth  avenue  stage  was 


THE  "BOSS"  ON  THE  WATCH. 


161 


you  saw  him;  next  trip  he'll  be  down  to  Bleecker 
street;  maybe  he'll  jump  in  and  ride  a  few  blocks. 
He's  a  sly  one.  He  thinks  more  of  a  cent  with  a  hole 
in  it  than  I  do  of  a  good  dinner.  He  hangs  around 
every  night  till  one  o'clock,  when  the  last  'bus  goes  up. 
He's  got  an  awful  grip  on  his  gold,  but  some  day  some- 
body'll  have  his  money  to  spend/'  The  thought  of  it 
gave  an  extra  snap  to  the  whip. 

"He  does  look  pretty  old,  that's  a  fact." 

"Don't  you  worry  about  his  dying  off-hand.  His 
father  is  alive  now,  up  in  Delaware  county.  No,  sir; 
if  I  had  his  stamps  I  wouldn't  hang  around  nights  to 
catch  a  five-cent  fare.  When  he  finds  a  driver  short  a 
fare  he  docks  him  fifty  cents." 

"How  do  the  receipts  now  compare  with  the  ten- 
cent  days?" 

"We  do  more  than  double  the  business.  A  stage 
averages  $3  more  a  day  since  they  cut  down  to  five 
cents.  We  used  to  take  in  $6  or  $7,  and  now  we  count 
on  from  $9  to  $11." 

It  requires  the  nicest  skill  to  drive  a  stage  on  Broad- 
way. Not  only  must  the  driver  guide  his  ponderous 
vehicle  safely  through  the  crowded  mass,  but  his  quick 
eye  must  be  all  over  the  street,  on  the  watch  for  pas- 
sengers, and  he  must  be  ready  to  stop  to  take  up  or 
let  them  down  at  any  moment,  and  in  such  a  manner 
as  will  not  block  the  already  crowded  street.  The  ease 
and  accuracy  with  which  a  stage  will  dart  through  a 
crowd  of  Broadway  vehicles,  never  colliding  with  or 
in  any  way  touching  them,  shows  that  Jehu  has  a  firm 
hand  and  a  quick  eye. 

The  stage  drivers  constitute  a  distinct  and  peculiar 
11 


THE  CENTRE  OF  FASHION. 


165 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  FIFTH  AVENUE. 

FIFTH  AVENUE   THE   CENTRE  OF    FASHION    AND    WEALTH— DESCRIPTION   OF    THE   STREET — A 

GRAND  PANORAMA  LOWER  FIFTH   AVENUE— ENCROACHMENTS    OF    BUSINESS— FOURTEENTH 

STREET — THE   44  SWALLOW-TAIL"     DEMOCRACY— AMONG  THE  PIANO  MAKERS — CHICKERING 

HALL— CHURCHES  CLUBS   AND   ART   GALLERIES— TWENTY-THIRD   STREET  DELMONICO  S— 

THE  ASTOR  RESIDENCES— STEWART'S   MARBLE   PALACE  A  REGION  OF  BROWN  STONE— UPPER 

FIFTH  AVENUE — THE    HOTELS — THE  CATHEDRAL — THE    VANDERBILT     MANSIONS — ALONG 

THE  CENTRAL  PARK  THE    LENOX    LIBRARY — THE    FIFTH   AVENUE   MANSIONS — HOMES  OF 

WEALTH  AND  LUXURY — HOW  THEY  ARE  FITTED  UP — FIFTH  AVENUE  ON  NEW  Year's  NIGHT — 

LIFE  IN  FIFTH  AVENUE— THE  WHIRL  OF  DISSIPATION  WHAT  IT  COSTS  THE  STRUGGLE  FOR 

SHOW  THE  "  NEWLY  RICH  "—DARK  SIDE   OF  FIFTH  AVENUE  LIFE  THE  SKELETONS  FIFTH 

AVENUE  HUSBANDS  AND  WIVES — THE  CHILDREN— 44  ALL  IS  NOT  GOLD  THAT  GLITTERS." 

Fifth  avenue  is  the  fashionable  street,  par  excellence, 
of  New  York.  It  commences  at  Washington  Square 
and  extends  to  the  Harlem  river,  a  distance  of  nearly 
six  miles,  and  is  a  broad,  well-paved,  and  superbly  built 
street  for  the  first  three  miles  of  its  course.  To  live 
and  die  in  a  Fifth  avenue  mansion  is  the  dearest  wish 
of  every  New  Yorker  s  heart.  Though  the  lower 
squares  are  being  rapidly  encroached  upon  by  business 
edifices,  the  street  as  a  whole  maintains  its  character  as 
the  most  magnificent  avenue  of  residences  in  the  world. 
The  buildings  along  its  course  are  mainly  of  brown- 
stone,  though  in  the  upper  section,  near  the  Central 
Park,  marble  and  the  lighter-colored  stones  are  being 
used  with  pleasing  effect. 

The  avenue  begins  at  Waverly  Place,  the  northern 
boundary  of  Washington  Square,  and  runs  in  a  straight 
line  to  59th  street,  the  southern  boundary  of  the  Cen- 
tral Park,  after  which  it  skirts  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Park  to  1 1  oth  street.    At  120th  street  its  continuity 


1GG 


NEW  YORK. 


is  broken  by  Mount  Morris  Park,  around  which 
it  passes,  and  commences  again  at  124th  street, 
and  pursues  an  unbroken  line  to  the  Harlem  river. 
From  Washington  Square  to  the  Central  Park,  a  dis- 
tance of  three  miles,  it  is  built  up  solidly,  with  magnifi- 
cent residences,  splendid  hotels  and  imposing  churches. 
From  59th  street,  along  the  eastern  side,  it  is  being  built 
up  rapidly,  and  before  many  years  have  elapsed  this 
section  will  be  an  unbroken  line  of  buildings.  It  will  be 
a  very  pleasant  section,  too,  for  the  western  boundary 
of  the  street  will  be  the  open  expanse  of  the  Central 
Park,  and  the  occupants  of  the  houses  will  have  before 
them  one  of  the  loveliest  landscapes  in  the  world,  as  a 
source  of  perpetual  enjoyment.  From  the  upper  end 
of  the  park  to  Mount  Morris  there  are,  as  yet,  no  im- 
provements. Passing  Mount  Morris  and  entering  the 
Harlem  section  of  the  avenue,  we  find  it  rapidly  grow- 
ing, the  houses  here  being  equal  in  splendor  to  those 
below  or  opposite  the  park. 

Starting  on  our  tour  of  inspection  from  Washington 
Square,  we  find  the  first  blocks  of  the  avenue  occupied 
by  stately,  old-fashioned  mansions,  and  shaded  by  fine 
trees.  At  the  corner  of  Clinton  Place  is  the  Brevoort 
House,  one  of  the  most  exclusive  hostelries  of  the 
city,  and  largely  patronized  by  English  visitors.  At 
the  northwest  corner  of  10th  street  is  the  Episcopal 
Church  of  the  Ascension,  a  handsome  brownstone  struc- 
ture, and  on  the  southwest  corner  of  nth  street  is  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  equally  handsome,  and  also 
of  brownstone.  Fourteenth  street  is  a  busy,  bustling, 
thoroughfare  at  its  intersection  with  the  avenue,  and 
here  are  a  number  of  fashionable  "Apartment  Houses," 


178 


NEW  YORK. 


CHAPTER  XI.  ' 

THE  ELEVATED  RAILROADS. 

INCONVENIENCES  OF  OLD-STYLE  TRAVEL — PLANS  FOR  RAPID  TRANSIT — THE  FIRST  ELEVATER 
RAILROAD — THE  PRESENT  SYSTEM — THE  METROPOLITAN  AND  NEW  YORK  ELEVATED  ROADS — 
THE  MANHATTAN  COMPANY — DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  ROADS — HOW  THEY  ARE  BUILT— MODE  OF 
OPERATIONS — STATIONS — EMPLOYEES— RAPID  TRAINS — ADVANTAGES  OF  THE  SYSTEM — ITS 
DRAWBACKS — IMMENSE  TRAFFIC — RESULTS  OF  THE  ELEVATED  SYSTEM — RAPID  GROWTH  OF 
THE  UPPER  PART  OF  THE  CITY — A  RIDE  ON  THE  ELEVATED  RAILROADS — THE  NIGHT  TRAINS 
— FROM  THE  BATTERY  TO  HARLEM  BY  NIGHT. 

The  peculiar  conformation  of  Manhattan  Island  ren- 
dered it  impossible  for  New  York  to  grow  but  in  one 
direction — from  south  to  north.  As  the  lower  portions 
of  the  city  were  taken  for  business  purposes,  the  popu- 
lation moved  northward.  In  the  course  of  time  this 
state  of  affairs  came  about:  the  majority  of  the  dwellers 
in  the  city  had  their  places  of  business  down  town,  at 
a  distance  of  several  miles  from  their  residences.  To 
reach  the  former  in  the  morning,  and  return  to  the  lat- 
ter in  the  afternoon,  they  were  dependent  upon  the 
horse-cars  and  stages.  These  trips  consumed  a  great 
deal  of  time,  and  imposed  upon  the  people  an  immense 
amount  of  fatigue.  Early  in  the  morning  and  late  in 
the  evening  the  cars  and  stages  were  crowded,  so  that 
often  the  entire  journey  had  to  be  made  standing ;  the 
vehicles  were  dirty  and  badly  ventilated,  and  every 
discomfort  was  encountered.  During  heavy  snows, 
hours  would  be  sometimes  consumed  in  making  the 
journey,  and  at  all  times  street  blockades  caused  the 
loss  of  much  valuable  time.  Altogether,  the  whole 
system  of  street  travel  was  badly  arranged,  uncom- 


THE  FIRST  ELEVATED  RAILROAD. 


179 


fortable,  and  entirely  unsuited  to  the  needs  of  a  city 
like  New  York. 

This  led  to  many  plans  for  "  rapid  transit ;"  that  is, 
for  a  system  of  roads  running  the  length  of  the  city, 
and  operated  by  steam,  which  should  shorten  the  time 
between  given  points  and  increase  the  comforts  of  the 
traveler.  At  first  these  plans  were  for  underground 
roads,  but  they  were  rejected  almost  as  fast  as  pro- 
posed, as  it  was  found  that  they  would  cost  several 
million  dollars  per  mile,  and  require  a  generation 
for  their  construction.  After  various  other  plans  had 
been  proposed,  a  company  was  chartered  and  began 
the  construction  of  an  elevated  railroad  on  Green- 
wich street  and  Ninth  avenue,  from  the  Battery  to  the 
Central  Park.  It  was  proposed  to  operate  the  road 
by  means  of  an  endless  wire  rope,  worked  by  station- 
ary engines  at  stated  points  along  the  line.  This 
proved  a  failure,  however ;  the  endless  ropes  would  not 
work,  and  the  stationary  engines  had  to  be  abandoned. 
The  road  was  then  strengthened,  dummy  engines 
placed  on  it,  and  about  1870  it  was  opened  for  travel. 
After  experiencing  various  changes  of  fortune  it  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  New  York  Elevated  Railroad 
Company,  and  has  since  been  rebuilt  and  strength- 
ened. It  now  forms  a  part  of  the  western  division  of 
the  New  York  Elevated  Railroad. 

The  next  project  was  the  Metropolitan  Elevated 
Railroad,  to  run  from  Rector  and  New  Church  streets, 
by  College  Place,  West  Broadway,  South  Fifth  avenue, 
Amity  street  and  Sixth  avenue  to  the  Central  Park. 
This  scheme  encountered  a  great  deal  of  opposition 
from  property  holders  along  the  route,  but  this  was  at 


NEW  YORK  SOCIETY. 


195 


CHAPTER  XII. 

SOCIETY. 

THE  VARIOUS  CLASSES  OF  SOCIETY — THE  BEST  OF  ALL — THE  "OLD  KNICKERBOCKERS" — A  HEAVY 
SET  OF  SWELLS — RICHES  AND  CULTURE  COMBINED— THE  NEWLY  RICH— THE  CONTROLLING 
ELEMENT— HOW  SHODDY  GETS  INTO  SOCIETY — THE  POWER  OF  MONEY— FASHIONABLE  SNOB- 
BERY— FROM  THE  TENEMENT  HOUSE  TO  THE  FIFTH  AVENUE  MANSION — MANIA  FOR  COATS 
OF  ARMS — HOW  BOSS  TWEED  WAS  VICTIMIZED  SUDDEN  APPEARANCES  AND  DISAPPEAR- 
ANCES IN  SOCIETY  "  RICHES  HAVE  WINGS  "  A  FAILURE  AND  A  TRIUMPH — WHAT  IT  COSTS  

MONEY  THE  ONE  THING  NEEDFUL — EXTRAVAGANCE  OF  NEW  YORK  SOCIETY — LOVE  OF  DRESS 
— A  FASHIONABLE  LADY'S  WARDROBE — FOLLIES  OF  THE  MEN— PASSION  FOR  THE  LEG  BUSI- 
NESS FASHIONABLE  ENTERTAINMENTS — THE  END  OF  EXTRAVAGANT  CAREERS — THE  SKELE- 
TONS SOMETIMES  COME  OUT  OF  THEIR  CLOSETS— FASHIONABLE  BALLS  AND  PARTIES — KCW 
THEY  ARE  GIVEN — INVITATIONS — BALL  ROOM  SCENES — THE  SUPPERS — A  SWELL  CONVERSATION 

 FASHIONABLE  THIEVES— -AN  ARISTOCRATIC  SNEAK  THIEF— HOW  A  BROKER  KEPT  HIS  PLACE 

IN  SOCIETY  A  DETECTIVE'S  EXPERIENCE  IN  FASHIONABLE  LIFE — THE    PRETTY    WIDOW  AND 

THE  LACES — FASHIONABLE  RECEPTIONS — WEDDINGS  IN  HIGH  LIFE — ARRANGED  ON  A  PECU- 
NIARY BASIS — MONEY  THE  ATTRACTION  HOW  HEARTS  ARE  BOUGHT  AND  SOLD — THE  WED- 
DING FESTIVITIES  GUARDING  THE  BRIDAL  PRESENTS- — WHAT  IT   ALL    COSTS — FASHIONABLE 

DEATH  ONLY  THE   RICH    CAN   AFFORD   TO    DIE   IN    NEW  YORK  COST  OF  A  FASHIONABLE 

FUNERAL — INTERESTING  DETAILS. 

I. 

CONSTITUENT  PARTS. 

Society  in  New  York  is  made  up  of  many  parts,  a 
few  of  which  we  propose  to  examine. 

The  first  class  is  unfortunately  the  smallest,  and  con- 
sists of  those  who  set  culture  and  personal  refinement 
above  riches.  It  is  made  up  of  professional  men  and 
their  families — lawyers,  clergymen,  artists,  authors, 
physicians,  scientific  men,  and  others  of  kindred  pur- 
suits and  tastes.  Compared  with  the  other  classes,  it 
is  not  wealthy,  though  many  of  its  members  manage 
to  attain  competency  and  ease.  Their  homes  are  taste- 
ful, and  often  elegant,  and  the  household  graces  are 
cultivated  in  preference  to  display.    The  tone  of  this 


196 


NEW  YORK. 


class  is  pure,  healthful  and  vigorous,  and  personal 
merit  is  the  surest  passport  to  it.  It  furnishes  the  best 
specimens  of  manhood  and  womanhood  to  be  met  with 
in  the  metropolis,  and  its  home-life  is  simple  and  at- 
tractive. In  short,  it  may  be  said  to  be  the  saving 
element  of  the  society  of  the  metropolis,  and  fortunately 
it  is  a  growing  element,  drawing  to  it  every  year  new 
members,  not  only  from  the  city  itself,  but  from  all 
parts  of  the  country.  It  is  this  class  which  gives  tone 
to  the  moral  and  religious  life  of  the  city,  which  supports 
the  lectures,  concerts, oratorios  and  scientific  entertain- 
ments which  form  so  pleasant  a  feature  of  city  life,  and 
it  is  seen  in  force  at  Wallack's  and  other  leading  thea- 
tres on  the  first  night  of  some  new  play.  Its  members 
are  generally  sufficiently  well-off  in  this  world's  goods 
to  render  them  independent  of  the  forms  to  which 
others  are  slaves.  Travel  and  observation,  added  to 
natural  abilities,  enable  them  to  estimate  persons  and 
things  at  their  true  value,  and  they  maintain  their  posi- 
tions without  caring  to  imitate  or  enter  into  competition 
with  their  wealthier  neighbors.  They  are  always  ready 
to  recognize  and  lend  a  helping  hand  to  struggling 
merit,  but  sternly  discountenance  vulgarity  and  impos- 
ture. They  furnish  the  men  and  women  who  do  the 
best  work  and  accomplish  the  greatest  results  in  social 
and  business  life,  and  their  names  are  honored  through- 
out the  city. 

The  next  class  is  composed  of  the  descendants  of  the 
original  Dutch  settlers  of  New  York,  and  style 
themselves  "the  Old  Knickerbockers."  They  are 
clannish,  and  cling  together,  looking  down  with  a 
lofty  contempt  upon  all  who  cannot  show  a  Dutch 


202 


NEW  YORK. 


to  be  exclusive,  and  then  it  is  hard  to  enter  the  charmed 
circle.  Some  years  ago  a  gentleman,  a  man  of  brains 
and  sterling  merit,  who  had  risen  slowly  to  fortune, 
feeling  himself  in  every  way  fitted  for  social  distinction, 
resolved  to  enter  society,  and  to  signalize  his  entree  by 
a  grand  entertainment.  At  that  time  he  lived  in  a  not 
very  fashionable  street,  but  he  did  not  regard  this  as  a 
drawback.  He  issued  his  invitations,  and  prepared  his 
entertainment  upon  a  scale  of  unusual  magnificence, 
and  at  the  appointed  time  his  mansion  was  ablaze  with 
light,  and  ready  for  the  guests.  Great  was  his  morti- 
fication. Not  one  of  those  invited  set  foot  within  his 
doors.  In  his  anger  he  swore  a  mighty  oath  that  he 
would  yet  compel  New  York  society  to  humble  itself 
to  him.  He  kept  his  word,  became  one  of  the  wealthiest 
men  in  the  city,  indeed,  one  of  the  merchant  princes  of 
the  land,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  society,  which 
had  scorned  his  first  invitations,  was  begging  for  admis- 
sion to  his  sumptuous  fetes.  He  became  a  leader  of 
society,  and  his  mandates  were  humbly  obeyed  by  those 
who  had  once  presumed  to  look  down  upon  him.  It 
was  a  characteristic  triumph;  his  millions  did  the  work. 

II. 

WHAT  IT  COSTS. 

Poverty  is  always  a  misfortune.  New  York  brands 
it  as  a  crime.  Consequently  no  poor  man,  or  even  one 
of  moderate  means,  can  hold  a  place  in  New  York 
society.  Indeed,  it  would  be  simply  impossible  for  any 
one  not  possessed  of  great  wealth  to  maintain  a  posi- 
tion there,  as  to  do  this  requires  an  almost  fabulous 
outlay  of  money.  As  money  opens  the  doors  of  the 
charmed  circle,  so  money  must  keep  one  within  it, 


HONOR  SOLD  FOR  MONEY. 


207 


great  though  it  be,  melts  steadily  under  such  demands 
upon  it,  until  there  is  nothing  left,  and  bankruptcy  and 
ruin  end  the  story.  From  time  to  time  the  business 
community  is  startled  by  the  failure,  perhaps  the  sui- 
cide, of  some  nominally  well-to-do  merchant  or  banker. 
The  affair  causes  a  brief  sensation  and  is  soon  forgot- 
ten. The  cause  is  well  known.  "Living  beyond  his 
means,"  or  "ruined  by  his  family's  extravagance,"  is 
the  stereotyped  reason  given.  Men  suffer  the  tortures 
of  the  damned  in  their  efforts  to  maintain  their  com- 
mercial standing,  and  at  the  same  time  to  provide  their 
families  with  the  means  of  keeping  their  places  in  so- 
ciety. They  are  driven  to  forgery,  defalcation,  and  other 
crimes,  yet  they  do  not  achieve  their  object.  Ruin 
lays  its  hand  upon  them,  and  the  game  is  played  out. 

As  for  Madame,  she  must  have  money.  The  hus- 
band may  not  be  able  to  furnish  it,  and  there  may  be 
a  limit  to  even  the  pawnbroker's  generosity  ;  but  money 
she  must  have.  Fashionable  life  affords  her  the  means. 
She  sells  her  honor  for  filthy  lucre  ;  she  finds  a  lover 
with  a  free  purse,  and  willing  to  pay  for  her  favors. 
She  acts  with  her  eyes  open,  a,nd  sins  deliberately,  and 
from  the  basest  of  motives.  She  wants  money  and  she 
gets  it.  Sometimes  the  intrigue  runs  on  without  detec- 
tion, and  Madame  shifts  from  lover  to  lover,  according 
to  her  needs.  Again  there  is  an  unexpected  discovery; 
an  explosion  follows;  Madame's  fine  reputation  goes 
to  the  winds ;  and  there  is  a  gap  in  society.  No 
wonder  so  many  fashionable  women  look  jaded,  have 
an  anxious,  half-startled  expression,  and  seem  weary. 
They  are  living  in  a  state  of  dread  lest  their  secrets  be 
discovered  and  the  inevitable  ruin  overtake  them. 


FASHIONABLE  SNEAK  THIEVES. 


213 


of  the  man.  The  stealing  which  was  here  confessed  is 
one  of  those  crimes  in  the  higher  circles  of  society 
which  are  generally  kept  hidden  from  the  public. 

"In  the  early  part  of  last  December  the  family  of  a 
prominent  lawyer  living  on  Fifth  avenue  gave  a  social 
entertainment,  to  which  only  persons  of  high  standing 
in  society  were  invited.  The  following  morning  it  was 
discovered  that  rings,  watches,  and  jewelry  worth  seve- 
ral hundred  dollars,  were  missing.  The  most  careful 
search  and  close  examination  of  servants  forced  the 
conclusion  upon  the  family  that  the  robbery  had  been 
committed  by  some  one  of  the  guests,  although  this 
seemed  incredible,  as  every  name  upon  the  list  of  those 
present  seemed  to  forbid  the  thought  of  suspicion.  The 
affair  was  put  into  the  hands  of  private  detectives,  who 
were  unable,  however,  to  obtain  the  slightest  clew  to 
the  thief  or  to  the  property. 

"A  few  days  later  a  wealthy  merchant  entertained  a 
large  number  of  friends,  and  the  following  day  a  wed- 
ding ring  and  other  jewelry,  in  value  about  $1000,  but 
prized  far  more  on  account  of  family  associations,  were 
missing.  Every  nook  and  corner  of  the  house  was 
searched,  and  detectives  watched  the  servants,  but  mys- 
tery continued  to  surround  the  matter.  Meanwhile, 
another  merchant  held  a  reception  in  his  brownstone 
house  on  a  fashionable  up-town  street,  and  also  suffered 
a  loss  during  the  evening  of  jewelry,  watches,  and 
other  property,  valued  at  from  $200  to  $300.  The 
articles  in  this  case  were  in  a  room  where  the  gentle- 
men assembled,  and  the  theft  lay  between  some  one  of 
them  and  an  old  servant,  whom  the  master  of  the 
house  immediately  exculpated,  declaring  that  he  did 


DETECTIVES  AT  FASHIONABLE  PARTIES.  217 

sented  me  with  regular  cards  of  invitation  that  the 
high-toned  lady  had  brought  with  her.  I  was  not  a  lit- 
tle embarrassed,  you  can  well  imagine,  for  ten  years' 
knocking  about  among  dangerous  characters,  and  being 
constantly  engaged  in  putting  up  jobs  on  the  most 
brilliant  members  of  what  we  call  the  ' swell  mob/  had 
rather  unfitted  me  for  contact  with  members  of  the 
upper  ten  thousand, 

"'  And  I  didn't  have  a  dress  suit! 

"'But  that  was  easily  managed,  thanks  to  a  costumer 
on  the  Bowery,  and  when  I  presented  myself  at  the 
brownstone  mansion  at  about  half-past  nine,  I  flattered 
myself  I  was  quite  the  correct  thing  in  my  get-up. 

" '  Necktie,  kid  gloves,  suit,  boots,  all  proclaimed  me 
the  proper  kind  of  guest.  One  thing  I  am  certain  of; 
I  wasn't  half  as  awkward  as  some  of  the  gawks  about 
me,  and  I  hadn't  been  in  the  parlors  ten  minutes  before 
I  felt  perfectly  at  my  ease. 

"'The  hostess  introduced  me  as  a  friend  of  her  late 
husband,  and  passed  me  over  to  a  heavy  old  swell,  who 
turned  out  to  be  in  the  grain  trade.  He  got  me  in  the 
corner,  and  kept  buzzing  me  for  nearly  an  hour  about 
the  crop  failures  in  England,  and  the  immense  export- 
ing advantages  it  would  be  to  this  country. 

"'All  this  time,  while  I  was  listening  to  the  aged  cove, 
and  trying  to  do  my  level  best  in  replying  to  him,  I 
didn't  forget  what  I  had  come  for.  My  eyes  went  up 
and  down  the  room  like  a  patrolman,  studying  each 
face  and  watching  keenly  if  any  of  the  guests  disap- 
peared from  the  rooms,  after  formally  entering  them. 
There  was  no  reason  for  anticipating  any  dishonest 
operation,  and  my  position  was  looked  upon,  both  by 


THE  PRETTY  WIDOW  AND  THE  DETECTIVE.  219 

"  ' '  Hadn't  I  better  take  Mrs.  a  glass  of  wine  ?' 

'Certainly;  it  is  very  kind  of  you,'  she  replied, 
« and  tell  her  I  will  be  there  in  a  moment  to  see  if  she 
needs  anything  else.' 

" 1  As  I  had  anticipated,  the  parlor  was  empty,  and 
what  was  more  remarkable,  the  front  door  was  open. 

" ' 1  went  up  the  stairs  as  swiftly  and  as  silently  as  I 
could.    When  I  reached  the  door  of  the  room  contain 
ing  the  presents,  I  detected  the  odor  of  chloroform. 

"  1  The  door  was  partially  closed.  I  pushed  it  open, 
and  it  was  easily  seen  from  whence  the  scent  came. 
There  sat  the  darkey,  insensible,  in  his  chair,  his  head 
thrown  back,  his  face  covered  with  a  handkerchief. 
The  widow  was  in  the  act  of  pocketing  the  fichu,  the 
position  of  the  two  parties  in  the  room  clearly  showing 
how  she  had  stolen  on  the  negro  unawares.  I  could 
have  arrested  her  then,  but  I  had  a  great  curiosity  to 
see  what  her  future  movements  would  be  like  ;  so  when 
she  made  a  motion  to  turn,  I  stepped  closely  back  in 
the  shadow  of  the  landing.  She  brushed  past  me,  and 
floated  down  the  stairs  like  a  silken  sigh,  I  after  her. 

"  '  All  this  hadn't  taken  more  than  five  minutes.  In- 
stead of  going  straight  into  the  parlor,  she  passed  to  the 
front  door,  which,  as  I  have  said,  was  open.  I  crouched 
down,  but  still  sufficiently  in  range  of  vision  to  see  her 
beckon  her  coachman,  who  was,  singularly  enough,  in 
the  neighborhood  at  so  early  an  hour.  He  came  to  the 
stoop,  and  she  passed  him  the  fichu. 

" 1  Then  she  entered  the  parlor  again,  and  when  I,  in 
about  ten  seconds,  followed  her,  she  was  the  most  beau- 
tiful sick  woman,  lying  among  the  satin  cushions  of  a 
sofa,  that  I  ever  saw. 


250 


NEW  YORK. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

SIXTH  AVENUE. 

RAPID   ADVANCE   OF  SIXTH  AVENUE  IN  PROSPERITY— DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  STREET — THE  LOWER 

PORTION — THE    TENEMENT    HOUSES — FRENCH    FLATS  THE    ELEVATED    RAILROAD    AND  ITS 

STATIONS — A  BUSY    SCENE — SIXTH-AVENUE  STORES  "  MACEY'S  " — THE  JEFFERSON  MARKET 

POLICE  COURT — BOOTH'S  THEATRE — THE  MASONIC  TEMPLE — "  THE  TABERNACLE" — SIXTH 
AVENUE    BY     NIGHT — A   CHANGE   OF    SCENE — THE   STREET- WALKERS — BRAZEN    VICE — THE 

FRENCH  WOMEN— SNARING  A  VICTIM  SHAMEFUL  SCENES  ON   THE    AVENUE  THE   STREET  A 

TERROR  TO  DECENT  PEOPLE— THE  ROUGHS— SIXTH-AVENUE  OYSTER  HOUSES  AND  BEER  SA- 
LOONS— SCENE  IN  A  FLASH  SALOON — A  YOUTHFUL  CRIMINAL — THE  DETECTIVE'S  PRIZE — 
SIXTH  AVENUE  AFTER  MIDNIGHT — A  DRUNKEN  SINGER — "  IN  THE  SWEET  BYE- AND-BYE  " — 
NO  EFFORT    MADE  TO  CHECK  THE  EVIL. 

Of  late  years  Sixth  avenue  has  come  prominently 
before  the  public  as  one  of  the  most  noted  streets  of 
the  great  city.  It  commences  at  the  northern  end  of 
Carmine  street,  and  runs  northward  to  59th  street.  At 
this  point  it  is  broken  by  the  Central  Park,  but  com- 
mences again  at  noth  street,  the  northern  boundary 
of  the  Park,  and  pursues  its  northward  course  to  the 
Harlem  River.  It  is  traversed  from  its  southern  ex- 
tremity to  the  Park  by  the  Metropolitan  Elevated  Rail- 
road, and  below  the  arcade  formed  by  this  structure 
run  the  horse-cars  of  the  Sixth-Avenue  Railroad  Com- 
pany, the  northern  terminus  of  which  is  59th  street. 
The  avenue  is  solidly  built  up  below  the  Park,  and 
ranks  next  to  Broadway  as  a  business  street,  being 
devoted  to  the  retail  trade.  In  the  lower  part  are  a 
number  of  tenement-houses,  but  above  34th  street  the 
upper  floors  of  the  buildings  are  laid  off  in  "  French 
flats,"  some  of  which  are  elegant  and  stylish.  For 
miles  on  both  sides  of  the  street  are  handsome  retail 
stores,  some  of  which  are  elegant  and  extensive  enough 


ON  THE  ROAD  TO  RUIN. 


255 


Sixth  avenue.  Girls  lounge  about  in  the  midst  of  the 
smoke  ;  do  not  hesitate  to  sit  on  the  laps  of  gentlemen, 
and  are  always  ready  for  one  of  the  foaming  glasses 
of  beer  which  are  pyramidally  carried  about  by  the 
ubiquitous  waiters.  There  are  many  young  men  being 
ruined  here.  While  we  look  on,  an  episode  occurs 
that  illuminates  the  whole  subject  as  a  flash  of  lightning 
does  a  gloomy  wood. 

"  At  one  of  the  tables  has  been  sitting,  with  two  girls 
of  the  town,  a  handsome  boy  of  about  eighteen  years. 
The  rose  of  health  is  still  on  his  cheek,  and,  although 
the  gin  and  water  he  has  been  drinking  have  given  his 
eyes  a  false  lustre,  you  can  easily  see  that  he  hasn't 
gone  far  on  the  road.  His  vital  organs  are  healthy. 
;  How  about  his  moral  tone  ? 

"  Directly  back  of  him  sits  a  silent  and  apparently 
abstracted  individual,  who  has  gone  to  such  depths  in 
a  brown  study  that  the  glass  of  beer  before  him  is  as 
yet  untasted,  although  it  has  been  there  ten  minutes. 

"  The  youth  gives  the  waiter  a  twenty-dollar  bill,  and 
his  companions  exchange  glances.  Just  as  the  proprie- 
tor thrusts  it  into  the  drawer,  the  detective — for  the 
abstracted  man  is  none  other — reaches  over  the  bar, 
utters  a  few  words,  and  takes  the  note  and  examines 
it.  His  suspicions  are  correct.  It  is  a  marked  bill, 
marked  that  day  in  the  down-town  office  where  the 
unfortunate  boy  is  employed.  It  is  quite  a  tableau  when 
the  arrest  is  made.  He  turns  pale  as  a  ghost,  and  then 
goes  out  with  an  attempt  at  bravery  and  carelessness 
that  is  pitiable  to  behold.  As  for  the  women,  in  ten 
minutes  they  are  drinking  more  beer,  at  the  expense 
of  some  one  else. 


PATENT  DIVORCES. 


281 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

DIVORCES  WITHOUT  PUBLICITY. 

CUEER  ADVERTISEMENTS — THE  "  DIVORCE  RING  " — ITS  FIELD  OF  OPERATIONS — THE  DIVORCE 
LAWYER— WHO  HE  IS— HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  RING — SCENE  IN  A  LAW- 
YER'S OFFICE — A  RICH  CLIENT — "  OFF  WITH  THE  OLD  LOVE  AND  ON  WITH  THE  NEW"— A 
CHARACTERISTIC  CASE — "  THE  EASIEST  THING  IN  THE  WORLD  TO  GET  A  DIVORCE*' — WEST- 
ERN DIVORCES — 'HOW  A  MERCHANT  MADE   A  MISTRESS  OF  HIS  WIFE — WHO  ARE  THE  CLIENTS 

 COST  OF  A  DIVORCE — HOW  IT  LS  MANAGED — THE  REFEREE  SYSTEM — SPOTTING  A  HUSBAND — 

MANUFACTURING   EVIDENCE — THE    "  OLD    MAN  "    ENTRAPPED  PROFESSIONAL  WITNESSES — 

THE  DIVORCE  LAWYER'S  SYSTEM  OF  DRUMMING  UP  BUSINESS — DIRTY" WORK  FOR  TEN  PER 
CENT — SERVING  A  SUMMONS— A  MOCKERY  OF  JUSTICE— POWER  OF  THE  RING — THE  COURTS 
AND  BAR  AFRAID  TO  BREAK  IT  UP. 

A  leading  New  York  daily,  of  a  recent  date,  contains 
the  following  advertisements  : — 

DIVORCES  without  publicity  in  30  days  ;  all  causes ;  every  State ;  consulta- 
tion free;  experienced  lawyer ;  success  guaranteed. 

Smith,  Brown  &  Co.,  86  —  Street. 

DIVORCES  cheaply,  without  publicity;  desertion,  incompatibility,  non-sup- 
port, intemperance,  compulsory  marriages;  parties  any  State ;  explanatory 
blanks  free  ;  always  successful;  consultations  free;  confidential. 

Lawyer  Smoothtongue,  105  —  Street. 

Similar  advertisements  are  to  be  found  in  other 
journals,  especially  in  those  of  "  sporting"  proclivities. 
They  announce  to  the  public  that  there  is  in  New  York 
a  powerful  and  regularly  organized  "  Ring,"  whose 
business  it  is  to  untie  the  marriage-knot,  and  they 
guarantee  to  do  it  with  the  ease  and  celerity  with  which 
it  is  tied.  This  would  seem  strange  in  a  State  where 
the  laws  regulating  divorces  are  so  rigid ;  but  the  di- 
vorce lawyer  knows  how  to  set  even  these  at  defiance, 
and  that  his  efforts  are  successful,  is  shown  by  the 
handsome  income  he  enjoys  and  the  elegant  style  in 
which  he  lives.    He  does  not  rely  upon  New  York 


282 


NEW  YORK. 


alone  for  his  field  of  operations  ;  other  States  are  more 
liberal  in  this  matter,  and  if  the  separation  of  husband 
and  wife  cannot  be  procured  in  the  Empire  State,  he 
can  easily  accomplish  it  in  some  other  part  of  the 
Union. 

The  divorce  lawyer  devotes  himself  to  this  branch 
of  his  profession  exclusively.  He  is  sometimes  an  ex- 
member  of  the  Bar,  who  has  been  disbarred  for  dis- 
honest practices,  and  cannot  appear  directly  in  the 
case  himself.  He  hires  some  shyster  lawyer  to  go 
through  the  formalities  of  the  courts  for  him,  and  some- 
times succeeds  in  inducing  a  barrister  of  good  stand- 
ing to  act  for  him.  His  office  is  usually  in  the  quarter 
most  frequented  by  practitioners  of  standing,  and  is 
located  in  some  large  building  with  long  halls,  so  that 
his  clients  may  come  and  go  without  attracting  special 
notice.  The  outer  office  is  fitted  up  in  regular  legal 
style,  with  substantial  desks  and  tables,  and  the  walls  are 
lined  with  cases  of  law  books.  The  private  consulta- 
tion room  is  elegantly  furnished,  and  is  provided  with 
the  coziest  arm-chairs,  in  which  the  clients  can  sit  at 
their  ease,  and  pour  into  the  sympathizing  ears  of  the 
"counsellor"  their  tales  of  woe. 

Let  us  seat  ourselves,  unseen,  in  the  private  office 
of  a  leading  divorce  firm.  They  are  located  at  the 
rear  of  a  superb  building  on  Broadway,  and  have  ele- 
gantly fitted-up  apartments.     Counsellor   ,  the 

head  of  the  firm,  conducts  the  consultations.  He  is  a 
portly,  smooth-faced,  oily-tongued  man,  possessing 
great  powers  of  cheek  and  plausiveness,  just  the  man 
to  lead  a  hesitating  client  to  take  the  decisive  step.  A 
clerk  from  the  outer  office  announces  a  visitor.  A 


AN  ATTEMPT  AT  SUICIDE.  FOILED. 


296 


NEW  YORK. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

PUBLIC  BUILDINGS. 

THE  CITY  HALL— THE  GOVERNOR'S  ROOM — THE  COUNTY  COURT  HOUSE— REMINISCENCES  OF  THE 
"  TWEED  RING" — THE  HALL  OF  RECORDS — THE  UNITED  STATES  SUB-TREASURY — THE  GREAT 
VAULTS — HOW  UNCLE  SAM'S  MONEY  IS  GUARDED — THE  ASSAY  OFFICE — THE  CUSTOM  HOUSE — 
A  NOBLE  EDIFICE— THE  BUSINESS  OF  THE  PORT  OF  NEW  YORK — DUTIES  OF  OFFICIALS— THE 
BARGE  OFFICE — PASSING  THROUGH  THE  CUSTOM  HOUSE — CUSTOM  HOUSE  BROKERS — TAM- 
MANY HALL — THE  TAMMANY  SOCIETY — POLITICAL    ORGANIZATION — "  BOSS    KELLY  " — THE 

COOPER  UNION — WORK  OF  THE  INSTITUTION — THE  BIBLE  HOUSE — A  GREAT  WORK  DONE  THE 

NATIONAL  ACADEMY  OF  DESIGN — HOW  THE  SCHOOLS  ARE  CONDUCTED — ANNUAL  EXHIBI- 
TIONS— THE  YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION  BUILDING — THE  LECTURE  ROOM — A 
REFUGE  FOR  YOUNG  MEN — THE  GRAND  CENTRAL  RAILROAD  DEPOT — INTERNAL  ARRANGE- 
MENTS— THE  CAR  HOUSE — THE  FOURTH  AVENUE  TUNNELS. 

Apart  from  the  great  public  edifices  mentioned 
separately  in  these  pages,  there  are  many  which  de- 
serve special  notice.  Of  the  principal  of  these  we 
propose  to  speak  in  this  chapter. 

The  most  prominent  of  the  public  buildings  is  the 
City  Hall,  the  headquarters  of  the  Municipal  Govern- 
ment of  New  York.  It  stands  in  the  City  Hall  Park, 
in  the  rear  of  the  Post  Office,  from  which  it  is  sepa- 
rated by  a  wide,  open  space,  and  between  that 
building  and  the  County  Court  House.  The  front 
and  sides  are  of  white  marble,  and  the  rear  of  brown 
sandstone.  It  is  built  in  the  Italian  style,  and  was 
begun  in  1803  and  completed  in  181 2,  at  a  cost  of 
more  than  half  a  million  of  dollars.  It  is  216  feet 
long  and  105  feet  deep,  and  is  surmounted  by  a  cupola 
containing  a  clock  with  four  faces,  which  are  illuminated 
by  gas  at  night.  On  the  summit  of  the  cupola  stands 
a  statue  of  Justice.  The  building  contains  the  Mayors 
office,  the  Common  Council  Chamber,  the  City  Library, 


THE  CUSTOM  HOUSE. 


301 


The  Wall  street  front  is  ornamented  with  a  handsome 
portico  supported  by  twelve  front,  four  middle  and  two 
rear  columns  of  granite,  each  thirty-eight  feet  in  height. 
The  building  is  constructed  of  Quincy  granite,  and  was 


CUSTOM  HOUSE. 

erected  in  1835,  at  a  cost,  including  the  ground,  of 
$1,800,000.  It  was  used  for  a  number  of  years  as  the 
Merchants*  Exchange.  It  was  subsequently  sold  to 
the  United  States  Government  for  $1,000,000,  and  was 


COOPER  UNION. 


309 


to  a  free  library  and  reading  room,  and  halls  for  lectures 
and  for  study. 

The  institution  was  designed  by  Mr.  Cooper  for  the 
free  instruction  of  the  working  classes  in  science,  art, 
English  literature,  the  foreign  languages,  and  telegraphy. 
Of  late  years  there  has  been  added  to  it  a  school  of 


COOPER  UNION. 


design  for  women.  The  course  of  instruction  is  very 
thorough,  the  ablest  teachers  being  employed,  and  the 
standard  of  scholarship  is  high.  Searching  and  rigid 
examinations  test  the  proficiency  of  the  pupils,  and  the 
graduates  are  sent  forth  into  the  world  thoroughly 
prepared  in  the  branches  taught  here.  Mr.  Cooper's 
plans  have  been  ably  carried  out  by  the  teachers  in 


316 


NEW  YORK. 


forms  are  sheltered  by  an  immense  glass  and  iron  roof, 
of  a  single  arch,  with  a  span  of  two  hundred  feet  and 
a  height  of  one  hundred  and  ten  feet.  The  offices, 
baggage  and  waiting-rooms,  etc.,  are  located  in  the 
southern  end  and  the  western  side.  Besides  these,  the 
basement  contains  a  police  station,  barber  shop,  and 
restaurant. 

The  depot  is  occupied  by  four  important  lines  of 
railways.  The  4.26.  street  front  contains  the  offices, 
waiting  and  baggage-rooms  of  the  New  York,  New 
Haven  and  Boston,  and  the  Shore  Line  Railroads ; 
and  the  Vanderbilt  avenue,  or  western  side,  is  taken 
up  with  the  offices,  baggage  and  waiting-rooms  of  the 
New  York,  Harlem  and  Albany,  and  the  Hudson 
River  and  New  York  Central  Railroads,  the  rooms  of 
each  road  teing  entirely  separated  from  those  of  the 
other.  The  upper  floors  of  the  building  are  occupied 
by  the  offices  of  the  various  railway  companies.  All 
the  apartments  in  the  great  structure  are  handsomely 
frescoed,  finished  in  hard  wood,  and  provided  with 
every  convenience. 

The  car  house,  which  comprises  the  principal  portion 
of  the  depot,  is  very  handsome.  The  roof  is  supported 
by  thirty-one  ornamental  iron  trusses,  each  one  of 
which  weighs  forty  tons  and  forms  a  single  arch  stretch- 
ing from  side  to  side.  Eighty  thousand  feet  of  glass 
admit  the  light  of  day,  and  at  night  the  place  is  bril- 
liantly illuminated  by  gas  jets  supplied  with  large  reflec- 
tors and  lit  by  electricity.  The  platforms  between  the 
tracks  and  on  the  sides  are  constructed  of  a  light- 
colored  stone.  Each  road  has  its  own  tracks,  and  so 
perfect  are  the  arrangements  of  the  depot,  that  though 


330  NEW  YORK. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

AMONG  THE  BULLS  AND  BEARS  OF  WALL  STREET. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  WALL  STREET — VALUE  OF  REAL  ESTATE — ENORMOUS  RENTS — ORIGIN  OF  THE 
NAME  OF  THE  STREET — NOTABLE  BUILDINGS — TRANSACTIONS  OF  THE  STREET — THE  SCENE 
AT  NOON— THE  STOCK  EXCHANGE — THE  LONG  ROOM — OUTSIDE  DEALERS— THE  REGULAR 
BOARD — HOW  BUSINESS  IS  CONDUCTED  IN  THE  EXCHANGE — THE  VICE-PRESIDENT — RULES  OF 
THE  EXCHANGE — GOOD  FAITH  EXACTED  OF  ITS  MEMBERS — THE  GOVERNMENT  BOARD — 
CHARACTERISTIC  SCENES — THE  VAULTS  AND  THEIR  TREASURES — THE  TELEGRAPH  INSTRU- 
MENTS— THE  "TICKERS" — LIFE  OF  A  STOCK  BROKER — SPORTS  OF  THE  EXCHANGE — THE 
CLEARING  HOUSE  AND  ITS  OPERATIONS— CURBSTONE  BROKERS— RECKLESS  TRANSACTIONS — 
STOCK    SPECULATIONS— BUYING    AND    SELLING   ON   COMMISSION — UNCERTAINTIES    OF  THE 

STREET — HOW  FORTUNES  ARE  MADE  AND  LOST  ON  WALL  STREET — STOCK  GAMBLING  WHO 

ARE  THB  SPECULATORS— A  DARING  BROKER— "  BLACK  FRIDAY  "—HOW  AN  OPERATOR  WAS 
RUINED — STOCK  SWINDLERS — SHARPERS  IN  WALL  STREET — THE  COMBINATION  SYSTEM — A 
BAREFACED  SWINDLE — ACTION  OF  THE  GENERAL  GOVERNMENT — HOW  BOGUS  OPERATORS 
FLEECE  UNSUSPECTING  CUSTOMERS— AN  INSIDE  VIEW  OF  THE  COMBINATION  SYSTEM — 
ENORMOUS    PROFITS — THE   SWINDLE    EXPOSED — A    WARNING   TO    WOULD-BE  SPECULATORS. 

I. 

WALL  STREET. 

Wall  Street,  the  financial  centre,  not  only  of  New 
York,  but  of  the  New  World,  is  but  half  a  mile  in 
length,  and  is  one  of  the  narrowest  thoroughfares  in 
the  Great  City.  It  commences  on  the  East  side  of 
Broadway,  opposite  Trinity  Church,  and  runs  direct  to 
the  East  River,  gradually  sloping  from  its  Western  end 
towards  the  water.  It  is  handsomely  built  up  along 
the  greater  part  of  its  course,  and  contains  some  of  the 
most  elegant  buildings  in  the  city.  Marble,  brown- 
stone  and  brick  are  the  materials  chiefly  used,  iron 
finding  no  favor  in  the  financial  heart  of  the  city.  The 
buildings  are  used  for  banks,  brokers',  lawyers'  offices, 
and  as  the  headquarters  of  some  of  the  greatest  cor- 


WALL  STREET. 


331 


porations  in  the  Union.  The  street  contains  the  Stock 
Exchange,  the  United  States  Sub-Treasury  and  Assay 
Office,  and  the  Custom  House.  All  the  buildings, 
with  the  exception  of  those  just  named,  are  filled  from 
top  to  bottom  with  offices.  Land  is  more  valuable 
here  than  in  any  other  section  of  the  city;  even  Broad- 
way prices  for  real  estate  sink  into  insignificance  when 
compared  with  those  demanded  in  Wall  street.  Rents 
are  in  proportion,  and  the  cost  of  a  comfortable  dwell- 
ing house  is  often  paid  for  a  year's  use  of  a  small 
office  in  a  desirable  location.  Landlords  reap  a  rich 
harvest  here.  Brokers  must  be  close  to  the  Stock 
Exchange,  and  the  lawyers  doing  business  here  must 
be  near  their  clients.  These  classes  pay  any  rent 
asked  in  order  to  hold  their  places. 

The  streets  intersecting  Wall  street  are  lined  for 
several  blocks  with  banks,  bankers'  and  brokers'  offices, 
and  are  all  included  in  the  general  term  "Wall  Street," 
in  dealing  with  financial  matters.  Even  Broad  street 
is  absorbed  in  the  term,  and  yields  precedence  to  its 
smaller  rival. 

Wall  street  derives  its  name  from  the  fact  that 
under  the  rule  of  the  Dutch,  the  northern  wall  of  the 
city  followed  the  line  now  pursued  by  the  street. 
Long  before  the  advent  of  the  English,  houses  sprang 
up  on  each  side  of  the  wall,  and  the  open  space  between 
them  became  a  well  traveled  street,  known  as  "Long 
de  Wal,"  which  was  afterwards  changed  to  the  present 
name,  Wall  street.  The  wall  was  demolished  in  1 699, 
and  the  stones  were  used  to  build  a  Town  Hall,  which 
stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  United  States  Sub- 
Treasury.    Prior  to  the  Revolution,  the  lower  part  of 


342 


NEW  YORK. 


carelessly  or  maliciously,  shouts  out,  "I'll  give  '14  for  a 
thousand;  '14  for  a  thousand." 

The  Vice-President  plies  his  hammer:  "Fine  Ir- 
ving— fine  Irving,  fifty  cents."  The  roll  keeper  proceeds 
to  make  his  little  note  of  it,  and  Irving,  who  has 
violated  the  rule,  founded  on  common  sense,  which 
forbids  a  member  making  a  bid  below  or  an  offer 
above  the  one  which  has  the  floor,  immediately  subsides, 
amid  the  laughter  of  his  neighbors. 

Occasionally  an  interruption  of  a  grosser  character 
occurs,  a  member  leaping  from  his  seat  on  some  slight 
provocation,  and  striking  off  the  hat  of  the  man  who 
has  offended.  "Fine  Harrison;  fine  Harrison  again ;" 
"fine,  fine  him  again."  "Fine  Harrison!"  cries  the  Vice- 
president,  repeating  the  word  without  cessation,  until 
the  broker's  wrath  has  been  appeased  and  he  returns 
to  his  chair  with  the  disagreeable  reflection  that  a 
heavy  score  is  against  him  for  the  semi-annual  settle- 
ment day.  Every  repetition  of  that  fatal  monosyllable 
was  a  fresh  mark  of  fifty  cents  or  a  dollar  against  his 
name.  Generally,  however,  the  Government  brokers 
are  more  orderly  than  their  neighbors  in  the  Regular 
Board.  Indeed,  the  whole  proceedings  are  more 
decorous  and  respectful,  the  bidding,  half  the  time, 
being  carried  on  in  a  low  conversational  tone.  At 
second  call  there  is  a  brief  excitement,  but  when  things 
are  dull  throughout  the  street,  this  room  peculiarly 
reflects  the  external  influences. 

Very  different  it  is,  however,  on  days  when  some 
special  cause  provokes  great  fluctuations.  Then  the 
members  spring  from  their  seats,  arms,  hands,  excitable 
faces,  rapid  vociferations,  all  come  in  play,  and  the  ele- 


FORTUNES  IN  WALL  STREET. 


351 


turn  in  the  tide,  and  so  they  go  on  until  they  have 
nothing  more  to  risk. 

if  fortunes  are  quickly  made  in  Wall  street  they  are 
lost  there  with  even  greater  rapidity.  You  may  see 
men  in  rags,  So  wretched  that  the  Police  Station  is 
their  lodging  and  the  bread  of  charity  their  only  sub- 
sistence, hanging  about  their  old  haunts  in  the  street, 
watching  the  operators  with  wistful  eyes,  who  were 
once  high  in  the  favor  of  the  Exchange,  and  possessed 
of  wealth  and  good  commercial  standing.  They  were 
ruined  by  stock  gambling.  Once  they  had  palatial 
mansions  on  Fifth  avenue,  and  were  the  favorites  of 
fortune.  Now  they  have  no  future,  no  hope.  They 
have  not  the  moral  courage,  even  if  they  had  the  oppor- 
tunity, to  seek  to  regain  their  former  positions.  They 
have  fallen  never  to  rise  again. 

The  best  and  most  reputable  firms  in  the  street 
never  speculate  on  their  own  account.  They  buy  and 
sell  on  commission,  and  their  only  speculative  dealings 
are  for  their  customers.  They  take  care  in  such  cases 
to  be  protected  by  liberal  "margins,"  which  secure 
them  against  all  possibility  of  loss. 

All  sorts  of  people  come  into  the  street  to  tempt 
fortune,  and  the  brokers  could  tell  some  queer  tales  of 
their  customers  did  they  see  fit  to  do  so.  When  a 
person  wishes  to  speculate  in  stocks,  it  is  not  necessary 
for  him  to  buy  the  securities  outright,  though  that  is 
by  far  the  safer  way  in  dealing  with  first-class  stocks. 
If  he  can  satisfy  the  broker  that  he  is  a  responsible 
person,  he  will  be  allowed  to  begin  operations  by  pay- 
ing down  only  ten  per  cent,  of  the  value  of  the  securities 
he  wishes  to  deal  in.    Thus  with  $1000  he  may  buy 


432 


NEW  YORK. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  PAWNBROKERS  AND  THEIR  WAYS. 

THK  SIGN  OF  THE  THREE  BALLS — LAWS  RESPECTING  PAWNDROKERS — HOW  LICENSES  ARE  ISSUED — 
DISREGARD  OF  THE  LAW  BY  THE  PAWNBROKERS — SOURCES  OF  PROFIT — EXCESSIVE  INTEREST — 
STORAGE  CHARGES — SALES  OF  UNREDEEMED  GOODS — WHO  ARE  THE  PAWNBROKERS — THE 
JEWS — A  DISHONEST  CLASS — SUCKING  THE  LIFE  BLOOD  OF  THE  POOR — HOW  CUSTOMERS  ARE 
SWINDLED — CHARACTERISTIC  SCENE  IN  A  PAWN  SHOP — THE  JEWS'  ONE  PER  CENT. — AN  INSIDE 
VIEW  OF  THE  BUSINESS — DRUMMING  UP  CUSTOM. 

The  stranger  in  passing  through  East  Broadway,  the 
Bowery,  Chatham,  Oliver,  Division,  Catharine,  Grand, 
Canal,  Broome,  or  the  neighboring  streets,  is  struck 
with  the  number  of  quiet,  dingy-looking  shops  over 
which  are  suspended  the  old  sign  of  the  Lombards — 
three  gilt  balls.  These  shops  and  the  three-ball  signs, 
all  of  the  latter  more  or  less  dingy,  may  be  seen  in 
many  other  quarters  of  the  city,  but  they  are  nowhere 
so  numerous  as  in  the  streets  named  above,  which  are 
centres  of  the  abodes  of  poverty  and  wretchedness. 
These  are  pawnbrokers'  shops,  and,  as  a  rule,  their 
proprietors  are  harpies,  who  suck  the  life  blood  of  the 
poor,  and  grow  rich  upon  their  miseries.  Of  course, 
in  all  large  cities  there  must  of  necessity  be  a  great 
aggregation  of  poverty  and  misery.  To  the  poor  the 
pawnbroker  is  a  necessity.  They  must  have  some 
place  to  which  they  can  repair  at  once,  and,  by  pledging 
such  articles  as  they  possess,  raise  the  pittance  they  so 
sorely  need.  Municipal  legislators  the  world  over 
recognize  this  necessity,  and  endeavor  to  throw  such 
safeguards  around  the  business  of  pawnbroking  that 
the  poor  shall  not  be  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  the 


AN  INTERVIEW  WITH  "  MINE  UNCLE." 


437 


stuffy,  and  the  room  smells  strongly  of  garlic  or  onions. 
A  man  with  an  unmistakeably  Jewish  face  and  a  villain- 
ous expression  of  countenance  stands  behind  the  nar- 
row counter,  the  greater  part  of  which  is  partitioned 
off  from  the  public  part  of  the  room.  We  take  our 
stand,  invisibly,  of  course,  and  watch  the  proceedings. 

A  young  man  enters,  well  dressed,  and  rather  dissi- 
pated in  appearance.  The  child  of  Abraham  watches 
him  narrowly,  and  begins  to  shake  his  head  and  groan, 
as  if  in  pain.  The  visitor  approaches  the  counter,  and 
lays  a  gold  watch  upon  it.  The  broker  clutches  it 
eagerly,  examines  it,  and  groans  louder  than  ever. 

"Vat  you  vant  on  dis  vatch?"  he  asks,  mournfully. 

"Fifty  dollars.  It  cost  me  one  hundred  and  fifty," 
is  the  reply. 

"Fifty  tollar!  fifty  tollar!  Holy  Moshish,  vat  you  take 
me  for!"  Then,  turning,  he  calls  wildly,  "Abraham! 
Abraham!  you  shust  koom  hier,  quick." 

A  second  Jew,  dirtier  and  more  disreputable  looking 
than  the  first,  makes  his  appearance,  and  the  proprietor, 
passing  the  watch  to  him,  and  holding  up  his  hands, 
shrieks  out,  as  if  in  despair, 

"Abraham!  he  vant  fifty  tollar  on  dat  vatch.  De 
man  ish  grazy." 

"Ve  shall  be  ruined,"  echoes  Abraham,  hoarsely. 
"  Ve  couldn't  do  it.    'Tish  too  much." 

The  proprietor  waves  his  arms  wildly,  takes  the 
watch  from  Abraham,  and  eyeing  the  owner  sharply 
for  a  moment,  says  : — 

"I  tell  you  vat  I  do.  I  gif  you  fifteen  tollar.  How 
long  you  vant  de  monish  ?  " 

"Only  for  a  month,"  replies  the  young  man,  evidently 
struggling  between  disgust  and  despair. 


"OLD  TRINITY." 


469 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

TRINITY  CHURCH. 

"  OLD  TRINITY'' — THE  THREE  CHURCHES — DESCRIPTION  OF  TRINITY  CHURCH— THE  INTERIOR — 
THE  ALTAR  AND  REREDOS— THE  WINDOWS — THE  SERVICES — FINE  MUSIC — DAILY  SIGHTS  IN 
TRINITY — THE  SPIRE — THE  CHIMES — VIEW  FROM  THE  SPIRE — THE  CHURCHYARD — NOTED 
TOMBS— TRINITY  PARISH— THE  CHAPELS— WEALTH  OF  THE  PARISH— ITS  NOBLE  WORK. 

The  most  interesting  church  edifice  in  New  York  is 
Trinity  Church,  or,  as  it  is  affectionately  termed  by  the 
citizens,  "  Old  Trinity."  It  stands  on  Broadway  oppo- 
site the  head  of  Wall  street,  and  forms  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  objects  on  the  great  thoroughfare.  The 
present  edifice  is  the  third  that  has  stood  on  the  site. 
The  first  church  was  completed  in  1697,  an<^  was  de- 
stroyed  in  the  great  fire  of  1776.  A  second  church 
was  built  in  1 790,  and  in  1839  tms  was  demolished,  and 
the  present  stately  edifice  begun  on  its  site.  It  was 
completed  and  consecrated  in  1846. 

Trinity  is  one  of  the  few  specimens  of  pure  Gothic 
architecture  to  be  found  in  the  United  States,  and  is 
stately  and  beautiful  within  and  without.  It  is  built  of 
brownstone  from  the  base  to  the  summit  of  the  spire, 
and  the  interior  is  finished  in  the  same  material.  The 
walls  are  fifty  feet  high,  and  the  arch  of  the  ceiling  is 
sixty  feet  above  the  floor  of  the  church.  The  roof  is 
supported  by  massive  brownstone  columns.  The  spire 
is  two  hundred  and  eighty-four  feet  in  height,  and  is 
surmounted  by  a  bright  gilded  cross.  The  church  con- 
sists of  a  nave,  choir,  and  aisles.  On  each  side  of  the 
choir  are  the  vestry  rooms.    The  south  room  contains 


470 


NEW  YORK. 


the  offices  of  the  clergy,  and  is  also  the  robing  room. 
The  north  room  contains  a  fine  tomb,  with  a  full  length 
effigy  in  stone,  to  the  memory  of  Bishop  Onderdonk. 
The  chancel  occupies  the  choir,  and  is  beautifully  fitted 
up.  At  the  sides  are  stalls  for  the  clergy  and  choris- 
ters, with  a  fine  organ  on  the  north  side,  and  at  the 
back  are  the  altar  and  reredos,  which  were  erected  as 
a  memorial  to  the  late  William  B.  Astor,  by  his  sons, 
both  of  whom  are  active  members  of  the  church.  They 
are  very  beautiful,  and  are  of  a  soft  colored  stone, 
richly  ornamented  with  sculptures.  The  windows  of 
the  church  are  of  stained  glass,  those  at  the  sides  being 
very  simple.  The  great  window  back  of  the  altar  is  a 
magnificent  work.  Over  the  Broadway  entrance  is  a 
gallery  containing  the  grand  organ,  one  of  the  most 
powerful  instruments  in  the  city. 

Trinity  is  noted  for  its  elaborate  services.  Morning 
and  evening  prayer  are  celebrated  in  simple  style 
every  day,  but  on  Sundays  and  feast  days  the  full 
choral  service  is  used.  The  choir  consists  of  men  and 
boys,  carefully  trained  by  the  Musical  Director;  they 
are  surpliced,  and  are  famous  for  their  skill.  No 
grander  or  more  impressive  service  can  be  heard  in 
the  land  than  in  Old  Trinity  on  Sunday  mornings.  The 
church  is  always  kept  open  during  the  day,  and  it  is  no 
uncommon  sight,  during  business  hours,  to  see  numbers 
of  persons  kneeling  in  the  pews  of  the  church  in  silent 
prayer.  A  soft,  subdued,  holy  light  streams  in  through 
the  colored  windows,  giving  to  the  beautiful  interior 
an  air  of  solemnity,  in  harmony  with  its  sacred  char- 
acter. 

The  spire  of  the  church  faces  Wall  street,  and  is 


474 


NEW  YORK. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE  LOST  SISTERHOOD. 

PREVALENCE   OF   PROSTITUTION   IN   NEW   YORK— POLICE   STATISTICS — FIRST-CLASS    HOUSES — 

THE    PROPRIETRESS  —  THE    INMATES  THE    ARISTOCRACY    OF    SHAME  THE    VISITORS  — 

VISITS    OF    MARRIED    MEN  AVERAGE    LIFE  OF    A    FASHIONABLE    PROSTITUTE  THE  NEXT 

STEP — THE    SECOND-CLASS  HOUSES — TERRORS   OF   THESE  PLACES — THE   GREENE  STREET 

BAGNIOS  GOING  DOWN  INTO  THE  DEPTHS  THE  NEXT  STEP  THE  WATER  STREET  HELLS 

— AVERAGE  LIFE  OF  A  PROSTITUTE — "THE  WAGES  OF  SIN  IS  DEATH" — HOW  YOUNG  GIRLS 
ARE  TEMPTED  INTO  SIN  EFFORTS  TO  SAVE  AN  ERRING  DAUGHTER  THE  STREET  WALK- 
ERS— THE  PANEL  HOUSES — HOW  MEN  ARE  ROBBED  AND  MURDERED  IN  THESE  HOUSES — 
THE  CONCERT  SALOONS — THE  WAITER  GIRLS — THE  DANCE  HALLS — THE  "  BUCKINGHAM  " — 
THE  "CREMORNE"  BUCKINGHAM  BALLS  ASSIGNATION  HOUSES  PERSONALS— THE  MID- 
NIGHT MISSION  —  REFORMATORY  ESTABLISHMENTS  —  ABORTIONISTS  —  THE  WICKEDEST 
WOMAN  IN  NEW  YORK. 

Prostitution  is  an  appalling  evil  in  New  York.  One 
can  scarcely  look  in  any  direction  without  seeing  some 
evidence  of  it.  Street  walkers  parade  the  most  prom- 
inent thoroughfares,  dance  houses  and  low  concert 
halls  flaunt  their  gaudy  signs  in  public,  and  houses 
of  ill-fame  are  conducted  with  a  boldness  unequalled 
anywhere  in  the  world.  The  evil  is  very  great,  but  it 
is  far  from  assuming  the  proportions  that  some  well- 
meaning,  but  misinformed,  persons  have  assigned  it. 
Some  years  ago  Bishop  Simpson,  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  made  the  startling  assertion,  at  a  public  meet- 
ing, that  the  prostitutes  of  New  York  were  as  numer- 
ous as  the  members  of  the  Methodist  Church  in  that 
city.  This  drew  from  the  Superintendent  of  Police  a 
statement,  in  which  he  showed  that  while  the  evil  was 
undeniably  very  great,  it  was  not  so  bad  as  the  Bishop 
had  reported  it.  The  truth  is  that  there  are  about  600 
houses  of  prostitution  and  about  90  assignation  houses 


PROFESSIONAL  PROSTITUTES. 


475 


in  New  York.  The  number  of  women  known  to  the 
police  as  professional  prostitutes  is  about  5000,  in 
which  estimate  are  included  several  hundred  waiter 
girls  in  the  concert  saloons.  The  Census  of  1880 
returned  the  female  population  of  New  York  as  615,- 
815.  This  would  give  one  professional  prostitute  for 
123  females  of  all  ages  in  the  entire  city.  These  fig- 
ures are  horrible  enough  to  contemplate,  but  they  are 
not  so  bad  as  the  statement  referred  to  above.  Of 
the  number  of  women  who  resort  to  prostitution  as  a 
means  of  obtaining  money,  or  from  other  motives,  and 
who  yet  manage  to  retain  positions  of  respectability 
in  society,  of  course  no  estimate  can  be  made.  They 
are,  unfortunately,  very  numerous,  and  are  said,  by  per- 
/  sons  in  position  to  speak  with  some  degree  of  accu- 
racy, to  equal  the  professionals  in  numbers. 

These  things  are  sad  to  contemplate,  and  disagree- 
able to  write  about.  The  whole  .subject  is  unsavory ; 
but  no  picture  of  New  York  would  be  complete  did  it 
not  include  an  account  of  this  terrible  feature  of  city 
life,  which  meets  the  visitor  at  almost  every  turn  ;  and 
it  is  believed  that  some  good  may  be  accomplished  by 
stripping  the  subject  of  all  its  romance,  and  presenting 
it  to  the  reader  in  its  true  and  hideous  colors. 

The  professional  women  of  New  York  represent 
every  grade  of  their  wretched  life,  from  the  belle  of 
the  fashionable  house  of  ill-fame  to  the  slowly  dying 
inmate  of  the  Water  street  brothel.  They  begin  their 
careers  with  the  hope  that  they  will  always  remain  in 
the  class  into  which  they  enter,  but  find,  when  it  is  too 
late,  that  they  must  go  steadily  down  into  the  depths, 


476  NEW  YORK. 

closing  their  lives  with  a  horrible  death  and  a  pauper's 
grave. 

The  first-class  houses  of  New  York  are  conducted 
with  more  or  less  secrecy.  It  is  the  object  of  the  pro- 
prietress to  remain  unknown  to  the  police  as  long  as 
possible,  but  she  finds  at  last  that  this  is  impracticable. 
The  sharp-eyed  patrolmen  soon  discover  suspicious 
signs  about  the  house,  and  watch  it  until  their  suspicions 
are  verified,  when  the  establishment  is  recorded  at 
police  headquarters  as  a  house  of  ill-fame,  and  placed 
under  the  surveillance  of  the  police.  These  houses 
are  few  in  number,  the  entire  city  containing,  accord- 
ing to  police  reports,  not  more  than  fifty.  Large  rents 
are  paid  for  them,  and  they  are  generally  hired  fur- 
nished. They  are  located  in  some  quiet,  respectable 
portion  of  the  city,  and  outwardly  appear  to  be  simply 
private  dwellings.  It  often  happens  that  the  neighbors 
are  in  ignorance  of  the  true  character  of  the  house, 
long  after  it  is  well  known  to  the  police.  It  is  hinted 
that  even  Fifth  avenue  is  not  free  from  the  taint.  The 
houses  are  magnificently  furnished,  and  every  attrac- 
tion is  held  out  to  lure  desirable  visitors  to  them.  The 
proprietress  is  a  woman  of  respectable  appearance, 
and  passes  as  a  married  woman,  some  man  generally 
living  with  her,  and  passing  as  her  husband.  This 
enables  her,  in  case  of  trouble  with  the  authorities,  to 
show  a  legal  protector  and  insist  upon  her  claim  to  be 
a  married  woman. 

The  inmates  are  women  in  the  first  flush  of  their 
charms.  They  are  handsome,  well  dressed,  generally 
refined  in  manner,  and  conduct  themselves  with  out- 
ward propriety ;  rude  and  boisterous  conduct,  im- 


A  FORTUNATE  ESCAPE.  485 

much  discouraged.  Not  so  my  friend,  who  told  me 
there  was  another  lady  down  the  street,  who  was 
really  in  want  of  girls  to  help  her.  We  went  to  her 
house.  It  was  another  of  the  same  sort ;  but  after  I 
got  in  there  my  own  clothes  were  tatcen  away  from 
me,  and  the  lady  furnished  me  with  some  sort  of  silk, 
trimmed  with  fur,  and  tried  to  make  me  behave  and 
act  like  the  other  girls  in  her  establishment.  I 
remained  there  from  Saturday  to  Wednesday  night, 
because  I  could  not  get  away.  I  had  no  clothes  to 
wear  in  the  streets,  even  if  I  should  succee8  in  reach- 
ing them,  which  was  impossible,  and  the  woman  who 
kept  the  house  was  angry  with  me,  and  treated  me 
brutally  because  I  would  not  comply  with  her  wishes. 
I  and  another  young  girl  tried  to  escape  by  climbing 
over  the  fence  of  the  back  yard.  The  other  girl  got 
away,  but  I  was  discovered  by  the  barkeeper,  who 
drove  me  back  into  the  house,  with  curses.  On 
Wednesday  evening  I  was  made  to  sit  at  the  window, 
and  call  a  man,  who  was  passing,  into  the  house.  He 
turned  out  to  be  a  detective,  and  arrested  me,  and 
brought  me  here." 

The  girl's  story  proving  to  be  true,  the  magistrate 
restored  her  to  her  friends,  and  caused  the  arrest  of 
the  keeper  of  the  house. 

The  police  are  often  called  upon  by  the  relatives  of 
abandoned  women  to  assist  them  in  finding  them,  and 
rescuing  them  from  their  lives  of  shame.  Sometimes, 
in  the  cases  cf  very  young  girls,  these  efforts  are  suc- 
cessful, and  the  poor  creature  gladly  goes  with  her 
friends.  Others  again  refuse  to  leave  their  wretched 
haunts ;  they  prefer  to  lead  their  lives  of  infamy. 


THE  FIRST  DIVISION. 


499 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

THE  NATIONAL  GUARD. 

THE  FIRST  DIVISION— ITS  ORGANIZATION — HOW  ARMED — APPROPRIATIONS  BY  THE  CITY — 
PRIVATE  EXPENSES — THE  COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF  —  EFFICIENCY  OF  THE  TROOPS — PAST 
SERVICES  OF  THE  FORCE — OVERAWING  THE  MOB — PUTTING  DOWN  RIOTS — A  REINFORCE- 
MENT TO  THE  POLICE— DISCIPLINE— THE  ARMORIES  — THE  SEVENTH  REGIMENT  ARMORY — 
PARADES. 

The  military  organizations  of  the  City  of  New  York 
constitute  the  First  Division  of  the  National  Guard  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  are  justly  regarded  with 


SIXTY-NINTH  REGIMENT  ARMORY. 


pride  by  the  citizens  of  the  Metropolis.  The  division 
numbers  about  6,500  men,  and  consists  of  four  bri- 
gades, which  are  divided  into  nine  regiments  of  in- 


502  NEW  YORK. 

• 

strength  of  a  fortress  and  the  elegance  and  comfort 
of  a  club-house.  It  cost  over  $300,000,  and  the  inte- 
rior was  decorated  and  furnished  at  the  expense  of  the 
regiment.  The  regimental  drill  room  is  300  by  200 
feet  in  size,  and  besides  this  there  are  ten  company 
drill  rooms,  an  officers'  room,  a  veterans'  room,  a  field 
and  staff  room,  a  gymnasium,  and  six  squad  drill 
rooms. 


SEVENTH  REGIMENT  ARMORY. 


The  parades  of  the  division  are  among  the  sights 
of  the  city,  and  draw  great  crowds  to  witness  them. 
The  martial  bearing  of  the  troops,  their  splendid  uni- 
forms and  equipments,  and  the  perfect  discipline  which 
marks  every  movement,  elicit  hearty  applause  from  the 
citizens  who  line  the  entire  route  of  the  march. 


THE  RICHEST  MAN    IN  NEW  YORK. 


503 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

WILLIAM  H.  VANDERBILT. 

THE  RICHEST  MAN  IN  NEW  YORK — EARLY  LIFE — BECOMES  A  FARMER — ENTERS  THE  RAILROAD 
WORLD— BECOMES  VICE-PRESIDENT  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  CENTRAL  SYSTEM— SUCCEEDS  THE 
OLD  COMMODORE — THE  VANDERBILT  PALACES — LOVE  OF  FAST  HORSES. 

The  richest  man  in  New  York  is  Wfilliam  H.  Van- 
derbilt,  Esq.  He  is  the  oldest  son  of  the  late  Com- 
modore Vanderbilt,  and  was  born  at  New  Brunswick, 


New  Jersey,  on  the  8th  of  May,  1821.  He  obtained 
his  early  education  at  the  Columbia  College  Grammar 
School,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  began  his  business 
career  as  a  clerk  in  the  banking  house  of  Drew,  Rob- 


506 


NEW  YORK. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

CRIME  IN  NEW  YORK. 

PROFESSIONAL  CRIMINALS — THEIR  NUMBERS — THE  THIEVES— SUPERINTENDENT  WALLING's  DE- 
SCRIPTION OF  THEM — THB>  THIEF  LANGUAGE — GRADES  OF  THIEVES — BURGLARS — BANK  ROB- 
BERS— SNEAK  THIEVES— CONFIDENCE  MEN — HOW  THEY  OPERATE — THE  PICKPOCKETS — 
WHERE  THEY  COME  FROM— THE  ROGUES'  GALLERY— THE  RIVER  THIEVES — DARING  CRIMES 
— THE  FENCES— HOW  STOLEN  GOODS  ARE  DISPOSED  OF— TRICKS  OF  THE  FENCES — THE 
ROUGHS— BLACKMAILERS — HOW  THEY  FLEECE  THEIR  VICTIMS. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  men  and  women  of  certain 
grades  of  intellect  and  temperament  deliberately  de- 
vote themselves  to  lives  of  crime.  These  constitute 
the  "  professional  criminals,"  who  make  up  such  a  ter- 
rible class  in  the  population  of  every  great  city.  In 
New  York  this  class  is  undoubtedly  large,  but  not  so 
large  as  many  people  assert.  That  it  is  active  and 
dangerous,  the  police  records  of  the  city  afford  ample 
testimony.  It  is  very  hard  to  obtain  any  reliable  sta- 
tistics respecting  the  professional  votaries  of  crime, 
but  it  would  seem,  after  careful  investigation,  that  New 
York  contains  about  3000  of  them.  These  consist 
of  thieves,  burglars,  river  thieves,  fences,  and  pick- 
pockets. In  addition  to  these  we  may  include  under 
the  head  of  professional  criminals,  the  following : — 
Women  of  ill-fame,  about  5000 ;  keepers  of  gambling 
houses,  and  of  policy  and  lottery  offices,  about  600, 
making  in  all  nearly  9000  professional  law-breakers, 
or  about  one  professional  criminal  in  every  136  in- 
habitants in  a  population  of  a  million  and  a  quarter. 
This  is  a  startling  statement ;  but  unhappily  it  is  true. 


THE  NATIONAL  RIFLE  ASSOCIATION. 


527 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

CREEDMOOR. 

THE  NATIONAL  RIFLE  ASSOCIATION  OF  AMERICA— THE  CREEDMOOR  RANGE— THE  GROUNDS 
 THE  TARGETS — SHOOTING  MATCHES — NATIONAL  GUARD  PRACTICE — AMATEUR  MARKS- 
MEN. 

The  rifle  range  of  the  National  Rifle  Association 
of  America  is  located  at  Creedmoor,  a  little  village 
on  Long  Island,  about  thirteen  miles  from  New  York. 
The  association  owns  a  tract  of  eighty-five  acres  of 
land,  enclosed  with  a  substantial  fence,  and  levelled 
and  sodded  with  turf.  Buildings  for  the  use  of  the 
association  and  marksmen  are  erected  within  the 
grounds,  and  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  lawn  thirty- 
iron  targets  are  placed,  giving  any  desired  range  from 
50  to  1200  yards.  At  various  intervals  are  placed  a 
"running  deer"  target,  "  a  tramp"  or  "moving  man" 
target,  and  a  "  ringing  target,"  in  the  last  of  which  a 
bell  is  rung  when  the  centre  is  struck.  A  fine  clock- 
faced  wind  dial  is  placed  at  a  conspicuous  point  to 
show  the  marksmen  the  direction  of  the  wind,  and 
numerous  flags  and  streamers  are  planted  along  the 
range  for  the  same  purpose. 

Frequent  shooting  matches  are  held  at  Creedmoor 
during  the  year,  and  draw  large  crowds  from  New 
York,  Brooklyn,  and  the  surrounding  country.  The 
scene  at  such  times  is  very  brilliant,  as  the  ladies 
attend  the  matches  in  large  numbers,  and  take  great 


NEW  YORK. 


interest  in  the  sport.  All  the  proceedings  are  regu- 
lated by  a  fixed  code  of  rules,  a  violation  of  which 
subjects  the  offender  to  a  forfeiture  of  the  privileges 


CREEDMOOR   RIFLE  RANGE. 


of  the  range.  Each  regiment  of  the  National  Guard 
of  New  York  and  Brooklyn  is  required  to  practise  at 
the  Creedmoor  range  several  times  during  the  year, 


NEW  YORK. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

HENRY  BERGH. 

THE  FRIEND  OF  THE  BRUTE  CREATION— ESTABLISHM ENT  OF  THE  "  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  PRE. 
VENTION  OF  CRUELTY  TO  ANIMALS  " — WORK  OF  MR.  BERGH — HOW  HE  BECAME  A  TERROR 
TO  TWO-LEGGED  BRUTES — A  NOBLE  RECORD. 

One  of  the  most  familiar  figures  upon  the  streets 
of  New  York  is  that  of  Henry  Bergh,  the  President 
of  the  "  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Ani- 
mals." Tall,  erect,  neatly  dressed,  and  with  a  counte- 
nance remarkable  for  its  expression  of  kindness  and 
benevolence,  he  never  fails  to  attract  attention  as  he 
passes  slowly  along,  seemingly  preoccupied,  but  keep- 
ing a  keen  watch  over  the  dumb  creatures  along  his 
route,  to  whose  protection  he  has  devoted  his  life. 

Twenty  years  ago  Mr.  Bergh  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  his  mission  in  life  was  to  protect  dumb  ani- 
mals from  the  cruelties  practised  upon  them.  He 
entered  upon  his  self-appointed  task  with  enthusiasm, 
drew  others  into  the  good  work,  and  in  1866  suc- 
ceeded in  organizing  the  Society  of  which  he  is  the 
president.  The  necessary  legislation  was  carried 
through  the  Legislature  of  New  York  through  the  ef- 
forts of  the  society,  and  its  officers  were  empowered 
to  enforce  the  laws  thus  enacted. 

Mr.  Bergh  is  fifty-seven  years  old,  and  is  possessed 
of  ample  means.  He  is  devoted  to  the  cause  he  has 
espoused,  and  serves  the  Society  as  its  president  with- 
out pay.    Since  he  began  his  work  he  has  created  a 


HENRY  BERGH. 


G16  NEW  YORK. 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 

JOHN  KELLY. 

"BOSS   KELLY  " — BIRTH   AND   EARLY    LIFE — EDUCATION — BEGINS  LIFE   AS  A  STONE-CUTTER — 

ENTERS   POLITICAL    LIFE — BECOMES  AN  ALDERMAN — ELECTED  TO  CONGRESS  HIS  CAREER 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES — IS  ELECTED  SHERIFF — LOSS  OF  HIS  FAMILY- 
ASSISTS  IN  OVERTHROWING  THE  TWEED  RING— LEADER  OF  TAMMANY  HALL— APPOINTED 
COMPTROLLER — REMOVAL  FROM  OFFICE — PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS. 

One  of  the  most  noted  men  in  New  York  is  John 
Kelly — or,  as  he  is  commonly  called,  "Boss  Kelly" — 
the  leader  of  the  Tammany  Hall  Democracy  of  the 
Metropolis.  He  is  credited  by  his  friends  with  being 
one  of  the  most  skilful  political  leaders  in  the  country, 
and  denounced  by  his  enemies  as  the  very  embodi- 
ment of  political  trickery  and  corruption.  His  friends 
are  warmly  devoted  to  him,  and  his-  enemies  hate  him 
with  an  intense  bitterness.  His  sway  over  his  partic- 
ular branch  of  the  Democracy  is  absolute,  and  he  can 
control  its  vote,  and  make  or  unmake  political  for- 
tunes with  a  power  unsurpassed  by  that  of  any  old- 
world  despot.  Mr.  Kelly  is  of  Irish  parentage,  and  is  # 
a  native  of  the  Fourth  Ward,  the  classic  region  which 
produced  his  famous  predecessor,  "  Boss  Tweed."  He 
received  his  preliminary  education  in  the  parochial 
school  of  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral,  which  he  left  at  the 
age  of  twelve  years.  He  subsequently  attended  the 
night  schools  established  by  the  Board  of  Education, 
and  displayed  an  ardent  desire  to  obtain  a  liberal  edu- 
cation. Upon  .leaving  the  Cathedral  school,  he  was 
apprenticed  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  grate-setter  and 


1  HE  TAMMANY  BOSS. 


617 


soapstone-cutter,  in  which  he  became  a  proficient 
workman.  He  was  a  steady,  resolute  young  man, 
without  vicious  habits,  and  exhibited  a  strong  devo- 
tion to  his  widowed  mother.    In  after  years  he  edu- 


JOHN  KELLY. 


cated  his  younger  brother  and  established  him  in 
business,  and  extended  similar  assistance  to  his  sis- 
ters, all  of  whom  have  become  women  of  remarkable 
character. 


CHINESE  QUARTER. 


620 


NEW  YORK. 


CHAPTER  L. 

RELIGION  IN  NEW  YORK. 

NUMBER  OF  CHURCHES  IN  NEW  YORK — VALUE  OF  CHURCH  PROPERTY — THE  DUTCH  REFORMED 
CHURCH— THE  EPISCOPALIANS — GRACE  CHURCH— ST.  THOMAS'S— "  THE  LITTLE  CHURCH 
AROUND  THE  CORNER  " — THE  LUTHERANS — THE  PRESBYTERIANS — THE  FIFTH  AVENUE- 
CHURCH — THE   BAPTISTS— THE   METHODISTS— ST.  PAUL'S   CHURCH— THE  CONGREGATIONAL- 

ISTS — THE   QUAKERS  THE   UNITARIANS — THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH — ST.  STEPHEN'S  

ST.  PATRICK'S  CATHEDRAL — THE  JEWS — THE  TEMPLE  EMANU-EL — LOWER  NEW  YORK  DES- 
TITUTE OF  CHURCHES— FASHIONABLE  RELIGION— STRANGERS  IN  CHURCH— THE  MUSIC — 
PROFESSIONAL  SINGERS— A  TENOR'S  SENSATION— THE  FIFTH  AVENUE  PROMENADE— PEW 
RENTS — CHURCH    DEBTS— RECKLESS  EXTRAVAGANCE. 

There  are  more  than  five  hundred  churches,  chapels, 
and  places  used  for  religious  worship  in  New  York, 
with  seating  accommodations  for  about  600,000  people. 
These  are  divided  among  the  Orthodox  Protestant  de- 
nominations, the  Roman  Catholics,  Quakers,  the  Greek 
Church,  and  the  Jews.  Of  these,  the  Protestant 
churches  number  nearly  450,  the  Catholics  over  40,  the 
Quakers  5,  the  Greek  Church  1,  and  the  Jews  27. 
The  total  value  of  church  property  in  the  city  is  about 
as  follows :  Protestant,  $30,000,000,  exclusive  of  en- 
dowments ;  Catholic,  $8,000,000 ;  Jews,  $2,000,000  ;  the 
Greek  Church,  $10,000.  Apart  from  their  church 
property,  the  various  denominations  own  numerous 
schools,  hospitals,  and  charitable  and  benevolent  insti- 
tutions, which  swell  the  value  of  their  real  estate  to  an 
enormous  figure.  It  is  of  the  churches,  however,  that 
we  propose  to  treat  here. 

The  oldest  denomination  in  the  city  is  the  Dutch 
Reformed.  It  was  planted  here  by  the  first  settlers  of 
New  Amsterdam,  and  the  church  records  extend  back, 


G34 


NEW  YORK. 


of  the  city,  almost  all  being  located  above  Canal  street. 
Trinity,  St.  Paul's,  and  one  or  two  others,  are  all  that 
supply  the  religious  wants  of  the  dwellers  in  this  sec- 
tion. One  ward  in  this  region,  containing  30,000 
people,  has  not  a  single  place  of  worship  in  it,  with  the 
exception  of  a  Chinese  Joss  house,  which  is  kept,  by  its 
votaries,  in  the  background. 

The  morning  services  at  the  various  churches, 
especially  at  the  more  fashionable  temples,  bring  out 
a  goodly  crowd  of  worshipers,  and  it  is  difficult  to 
obtain  a  seat.  At  the  fashionable  churches  the  lady 
members  of  the  congregations  have  a  bad  habit  of  wait- 
ing until  the  services  have  begun  before  putting  in  an 
appearance.  Then  they  sail  up  the  aisles,  to  their  softly 
cushioned  pews,  arrayed  in  all  the  finery  to  which  they 
have  devoted  so  much  attention  during  the  past  week. 
These  late  entrances  disturb  the  worshipers,  but  they 
enable  the  ladies  to  show  off  their  toilets,  and  that, 
after  all,  is  what  the  churches  are  for,  so  far  as  they 
are  concerned.  Strangers  are  expected  to  stand  in 
the  aisles  near  the  door,  and  wait  until  the  sexton  can 
show  them  to  seats.  A  certain  fashionable  sexton  is 
said  to  have  derived  quite  a  snug  income  from  the 
"tips"  bestowed  upon  him  by  visitors  wishing  to  obtain 
eligible  seats.  A  good  story  is  told  of  a  certain  high- 
toned  church.  A  gentleman  had  been  standing  in  the 
main  aisle  during  the  greater  part  of  the  service,  vainly 
waiting  for  the  sexton  to  show  him  to  a  seat.  At  last, 
finding  the  process  tiresome,  he  leaned  over,  and,  in  a 
whisper,  asked  the  occupant  of  a  pew  in  which  there 
were  several  vacant  seats,  "What  church  is  this?" 
"Christ's,"  was  the  whispered  reply.    "Is  He  at  home, 


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